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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24475213">Apaixonar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeranthea/pseuds/writeranthea'>writeranthea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Football RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Family Feels, Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Light-Hearted, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:54:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>52,318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24475213</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeranthea/pseuds/writeranthea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Thirty various Cressi ficlets for the OTP challenge.</p><blockquote>
  <p><em>Apaixonar signifies the action and the feeling of falling in love. It’s like saying, “I’m in that place of falling in love.”</em> </p>
</blockquote>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lionel Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>290</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>157</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Waking up together (1/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A/N: I posted this story on Ao3. If you see it on any other website or platform, please consider that I did not consent to it.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I never thought that I'd write something like this but since I've got "Perfect Paradise" going on, I can definitely use some shorter stories as a side project :-) Updates will be sporadic, as this is a side project, but I'll try my best to not let this go by unfinished!</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were two great questions in Leo’s life when he woke up early on that morning in mid-June after the sun tickled his nose and pulled him out of his dreams. Not only did he wonder about how he got to a point at which he would stay at Cristiano Ronaldo’s house for the night, but how he, on God’s good earth, managed to find his way into Cristiano’s bed. It wasn’t as if he had intended to stay the night. Yes, it had gotten late the evening before but that alone wasn’t an excuse.</p><p>The only reason as for why Leo had ended up going to Junior’s birthday party was the fact that Sergio was the boy’s godfather. When Gerard had asked him whether he’d like to accompany him to Madrid, Leo had immediately agreed, taking it as an opportunity to see a bit of the city without being bound in his duty as a football player. He had not taken it into consideration that Gerard would downright beg him to come to Junior’s birthday party as well, but he never, not in a thousand dreams, would have gone so far and imagine that he would ever wake up beside Cristiano. It didn’t matter that he might have been harbouring somewhat of a crush for a couple of years now, especially since he doubted that it was requited at all. Cristiano had not seemed all that happy when he had opened the front door to not only Sergio and Gerard, but to Leo as well.</p><p>“Messi,” the Portuguese had said through his teeth and it it wouldn’t have been for Gerard’s hand in the space between his shoulders, Leo would’ve turned around and left right then and there. Thankfully, the awkward tension between him and his <em>archenemy</em> hadn’t lasted all that long. They had stopped addressing each other by their last names after Leo had given Junior the small gift he had bought for him and somehow, Leo wasn’t able to tell how, Cristiano and him had found themself engaged in an actual conversation that had lasted until the last guests had left. Gerard had looked at him in disbelief when he had told him that Cristiano had offered him the bed in the guest room.</p><p>“Well,” Gerard had laughed, a knowing twinkle in his eyes, after Leo had told him about his plans of staying the night, “it’s good that you two finally decided to bury the hatched after all those year, don’t you think?”</p><p>Cristiano had made tea for them after he had put his five-year-old son to bed and they moved to sit on the couch in the living room, a good meter of free space between them. Leo’s anxiety had been running high as he had been sitting there. They had known each other for years, more than a decade even, but had never exchanged more than a few professional words with each other.</p><p>Leo shook his head as he looked down at the sleeping man beside him. Cristiano’s bed was king-sized, big enough for them to lie beside each other without actually touching. He still moved until he was as far away from Cristiano as he could’ve been. The older man was lying on his stomach with his face turned away from Leo, who had a hard time trying to suppress the urge to comb through Cristiano’s mussed curls to feel how soft they really were. “Jesus,” he muttered under his breath, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed and running a weary hand over his face.</p><p>“Pai?” Leo froze when he heard Junior’s small voice and he turns around, only to see Cristiano’s son standing in the ajar door. The boy was holding his teddy securely in one arm and rubbing at his eyes with free hands. Unsure what to do, Leo looked at Cristiano, who only continued to snore softly. <em>Great</em>.</p><p>“Hey,” he said, clearing his throat and standing up from the bed to move towards Junior, who was looking at him with wide eyes. Leo couldn’t blame him for the way he reacted, if he would’ve seen a practical stranger in his father’s bedroom he would’ve freaked out as well. That Junior was a fan of him and spend hours watching compilations of his games on Youtube, he knew. Cristiano had told him. Leo crouched down in front of the boy. “We should let your pai sleep,” he whispered, “I can make you some breakfast if you want to, niño. Maybe some pancakes if you like them?” A wide grin grew on Junior’s face and he grabbed Leo’s hand as if it was the most usual thing, leading him downstairs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Morning routine (2/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The fact that Junior was so delighted by the sheer prospect of getting to eat pancakes for breakfast confused and worried Leo more than he was willing to admit, and he stopped the five-year-old just after they reached the bottom of the stairs, suddenly remembering the fact that Cristiano was more stricter with his diet than anyone else he knew. Junior looked at him in open confusion. “Listen,” Leo said after having cleared his throat, “does your pai allow you to eat pancakes? Because I won’t be able to make you some if it gets us both into trouble with your pai, niño.”</p><p>The confused look on the boy’s face was replaced by a wide, boyish smile and he nodded in a way that caused his curls to bounce back and forth, “I’m allowed, I’m allowed! Usually my vovó makes them for me because Pai can’t really make them that well, they don’t taste good when he makes them and vovó always puts chocolate into them. Can you please make me some, Leo? Please?”</p><p>Leo just had to smile at the way that Junior’s eyes had turned wide and uttermost pleading and he ruffled through the young boy’s curls before he stood up from his crouching position again. “Okay then, I’ll make you pancakes.”</p><p>The five-year-old squealed and grabbed his hand again, trying to tug him along with an impatient whine, eventually showing him to the kitchen, where Junior let go of Leo’s hand to run over to one of the drawers. He opened it, zestfully enough for Leo to wince and worry about the state of the hinges. “Here!”, the boy said, an excting undertone lacing his voice, “here’s everything, Leo!” While Leo was busy retrieving a pan, a mixing bowl and the mixer he spotted, Junior got his little stool out of a corner and placed it in front of the fridge, stepping onto it to open the double-winged doors. “We have everything here!”</p><p>Why he felt a sudden rush of worry when he saw the boy standing on the stool he didn’t really know; he wasn’t in the place to worry about whatever it was that Cristiano’s son was doing. Junior passed him the bottle of milk, the butter, the carton with the eggs and a small bowl with cut-up fruits that Leo had seen Cristiano prepare the evening before, and Leo placed all the ingredients on the counter. “What does your pai eat for breakfast, niño? We should make him something as well, don’t you think?” Sure, he could’ve done a quick Google search to find out about Cristiano’s meal plan, but that really wasn’t his intention.</p><p>“Pai always eats eggs and-and...” Junior stalled and his brows pulled together in a very adorable way, obviously thinking hard, “I don’t know what it’s called but it’s green and it smells really really bad!”</p><p>Almost as soon as the boy said that Leo spotted a bundle of kale in the vegetable compartment of the fridge and he suppressed a snort, “I’ll make that for him too.”</p><p>“Okay!” Junior jumped off his stool and put it back into its place before he stood there, securely holding his teddy in his arms, while Leo closed the fridge and searched the drawers for everything else he needed. He tried not to think about how awkward it had felt to work in Cristiano’s, in Ronaldo’s kitchen with Ronaldo’s son watching his every step, and he did a quick job with preparing the batter for the pancakes, having decided that he’d make Junior’s breakfast before he’d set out to prepare something for Cristiano and himself. While the small piece of butter was melting in the pan, Leo quickly set the table for three of them, suppressing a comment about the fact that Junior had a Real-themed breakfast set. “Leo?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Can I have some milk?”</p><p>“Sure, niño.” He put a load of the batter into the pan and made sure that it was spread out evenly before he took the bottle of milk and walked over to where Junior was sitting to fill up his cup, “There you go.”</p><p>He was rewarded with a wide, honest smile, “Thank you.”</p><p>Once the pancake was done, Leo sprinkled a bit of sugar and cinnamon on it like his mother used to do it and transferred it to the boy’s plate, “Wait niño, I’ll cut it for you.” Junior nodded, his eyes wide were they were fixed on his breakfast treat and Leo smiled to himself as he cut the pancake into pieces that were manageable for a five-year-old. He stopped for a moment when he found himself faced with a task he never thought he’d have to do: prepare an actual breakfast for Cristiano.</p><p>After a look over his shoulder assured him that Junior’s happily eating away at his pancake and the fruits that his father prepared for him, Leo took out everything he needed to make a smoothie. Other than the kale, he also found a cut-up avocado and what looked like pineapple and banana chunks in the fruit compartment - more than enough to make a proper breakfast smoothie. Leo put the ingredients into the blender, added water and a splash of the lime juice he, too, found in the fridge, and listened to Junior babbling about the game that he played with <em>Uncle Ser</em> yesterday while he prepared the smoothie. He poured it into a glass and stashed it away in the fridge so it wouldn’t turn bad before he sets out to get the scrambled eggs done, as he’s quite hungry as well. “Leo?” When he turned around, Junior was standing behind him, holding his empty plate and looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes, “Can I have another one?”</p><p>“Good morning.”</p><p>Heat rose into Leo’s face and he only managed to look at Cristiano for a second, feeling much more comfortable with turning his attention back towards the stove. He never thought that he’d see Cristiano with sleep-tousled hair and dressed in nothing more than a pair of pyjama pants, “Good morning. Uh... yeah niño, I’ll make you another one.”</p><p>“Yay, you’re the best!”</p><p>“What are you making him?”</p><p>Hyperaware of Cristiano’s presence behind him, as the Portuguese had walked over to him, Leo tried to focus on the two pans on the stove in order to burn neither the eggs nor the pancake. Jesus, he was being so dramatic. They talked, shared a bed just because the one in the guest room was broken and then were something like friends. He had no reason to be so nervous. “Pancakes,” Leo said after he cleared his throat, “I-I made a smoothie for you. It’s in the fridge.” If he would’ve looked at Cristiano, he would’ve seen how one of the older man’s eyebrows was raised in surprise.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Doing laundry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry that it took me so long, life is crazy right now :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo liked doing all the chores that needed to be done in household. Sure, he hadn’t liked them when he had been a young kid and his mother had called him home earlier because he hadn’t finished the dishes before he had grabbed his old, battered football and had run off to play with his friends, but as soon as he had begun to live on his own Leo had discovered the appeal that his mother had always spoken and he had always shaken his head in disbelief about.</p><p>Said appeal was the reason as for why Leo had begun to spend his free days only leaving his house to do any necessary grocery shopping, listening to his favourite music and doing one chore after another instead of sleeping in and lingering around playing FIFA like his friends who had hired staff would do it, something that Leo never saw the reason to do for his one man household. Just as his mother had told him, Leo had indeed found out that it could help him to forget about his anxiety for a while if he’d dust the bookshelves and display cases with his awards for an hour, or if he’d spend a good few hours making sure that all the windows of his house had been spotless - but what had turned out to be his favourite chore was doing laundry. It wasn’t so much the process of parting the clothes as the way that Leo was able to spend a few peaceful moments sitting down with a mate or a coffee, watching the drum of the washing machine turn over and over again. </p><p>He had never been able to explain it, but it helped him relax ever since he found out and so he didn’t want to wait until Cristiano would eventually ask from him to help that he had begun to do a few of the chores whenever he stayed in Madrid for the weekend. The first few times it had happened, there had been legit reasons as for why he had needed to stay in enemy territory, as Gerard always called Madrid. One time it had been James’ birthday party, one other time there had been an exhibition in the Prado which Leo had really wanted to see and yet another time he had simply wanted to see a bit of the city after Gerard gushed about the tour Sergio and him had done. The fact that he had always stayed at Cristiano’s place rather than a hotel, he tried not to think about. Cristiano had offered it to him, Leo had accepted it and two months after Junior’s birthday, during which they had apparently stopped being the enemies that the public expected them to be, it was no longer unusual for him to stay in his new friend’s guest room - he hadn’t shared a bed with Cristiano again, as the Portuguese had gotten the one in the guest room fixed and had offered it for Leo whenever he’d need it.</p><p>So it happened that Leo, by August of the same year, came to visit Madrid and Cristiano every other weekend and that the Portuguese had always asked whether he’d come, as if it had been a ritual. Leo thought that he only asked in order to know whether he could offer the guest room to someone else, and this time the reason as for why he had come to Madrid was the fact that Gerard had agreed to go on a date with Sergio and had asked him to fly with him. He had travelled with Gerard, not mentioning that he already bought a ticket, and then found himself sitting in Cristiano’s kitchen, watching the drum of the washing machine turn while sipping at a Latte Macchiato. Cristiano and young Junior had left a good while ago to get some grocery shopping done and Leo was waiting for the second load of laundry to be done, as the first one was already drying on the rotary clothes dryer in the garden. If it felt awkward being alone in his former archenemy’s house? At first it had, but it seemed that they both had since grown accustomed to it even though neither of them had ever expected for it to happen.</p><p>Leo finished the last bit of his coffee and stood up to put the glass into the dishwasher after the washing machine had announced that it had been done with a rather loud beep. He crouched down, pulled the laundry basket close and emptied the washing machine, stopping for a moment when he realised that he’s holding one of Cristiano’s jerseys in his hands and if Leo chucked it into the basket as if he had been burned by it, it happened out of reflex. Humming to himself, he heaved the laundry basked and settled it on his hip as he made his way out of the kitchen and through the living room to reach the patio door. If anyone would see him putting up laundry in Cristiano Ronaldo’s garden, he would be forced to do some explaining. Leo had just put up the first few pieces of clothing when he perceived how the patio door was opened and quick footfalls closed in on him.</p><p>The giggling gave away the fact that it was Junior, not that he had expected Cristiano to come running over to him like that, “Hi Leo!”</p><p>Leo turned around, a smile growing on her face, “Hey niño, how are you?” He allowed the young boy to hug him around the waist. To say that he wasn’t surprised by the way that Cristiano’s son immediately accepted him would’ve been a lie, it seems that Junior really grew attached to him since he begun to visit rather frequently and he had expected anything but that, considering how shy Junior seemed when they first met.</p><p>“Look what Pai bought for me, Leo!” The five-year-old held out his new football, “Can you play with me? I really want to play with you now!”</p><p>Leo pats the top of Junior’s head, “Sorry niño, but I have to hang up the laundry first, okay? Then I’ll play with you.” Cristiano’s son turned out a pout and hugged his new football to his chest, but nodded and sat down into the grass to watch him work. Leo smiled and shook his head, picking up the next piece of clothing and raising onto the tips of his toes to hang it over a free spot on the dryer line. That Cristiano was standing in the opened patio door and was watching him with his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his face, Leo didn’t notice.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Night in</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you going out tonight?”</p><p>Leo looked up from where he was typing away at his phone, wanting to answer to the text that Gerard had send him a few moments ago, and saw Cristiano standing in the doorway of the guest room, casually leaning against the frame. “I don’t think so,” he said after a short pause, locking his phone and lowering it as if to let Cristiano know that he was ready to pay full attention to him. “Geri and I considered having dinner together, but he’s going out with Sergio so I don’t have any plans for tonight.” It was only then that Leo spotted the small boy who was hiding behind Cristiano and the smile on Leo’s face gew when Junior peaked out from where he had been hiding behind his father’s legs to look at him with such a look of childlike innocence and hope that Leo felt something twinge in his chest. He somehow managed to look away and at Cristiano again, “Why are you asking?”</p><p>The Portuguese laughed and brought his left hand to rest on the top of his son’s head, combing through the boy’s unruly curls, “Because this little man right here would like to have a movie night with you. É isso que você quer meu amor, não é?”</p><p>Junior nodded and hugged his father’s leg, all while keeping his gaze fixed on Leo with the widest possible doe eyes, “Can you stay with us tonight, Leo? Please?”</p><p>Even if he would’ve had plans and Gerard wouldn’t have accepted to go on a date with Sergio, Leo wouldn’t have had the heart to turn the invitation down. “I can do that,” he eventually answered and both him and Cristiano laughed when the young boy squealed in excitement and ran over him to jump into his lap.</p><p>Junior wrapped his arms around Leo’s neck and hugged him as much as possible, “We can watch Spirit and Lion King and Frozen and-”</p><p>“Acalme-se um pouco.”</p><p>“But he has to know, Pai! What if Leo doesn’t like them? Then we have to watch something else!”</p><p>Leo chuckled and took it onto himself to mess Junior’s curls up even more, “I’ll watch those movies with you.”</p><p>“You like them?”</p><p>“Yes niño, I like them.”</p><p>The five-year-old squealed again and climbed back off Leo’s lap, running back over to his father to hug him instead, “Can we start now, Pai?”</p><p>Cristiano’s hand found its way back onto the top of his son’s head. “We’ll make dinner, then you go upstairs, change into your pyjamas and-” he started, but stopped talking mid-sentence when Junior dashed away and down the stairs, ignoring his shout of “No running on the stairs!”. Leo picked his phone back up from where he had set it aside to finish the text he had begun to type earlier, not wanting to leave his best friend on read. “Thank you for doing that,” Cristiano said after having watched how Leo stood up from where had been sitting on the bed and had put his phone aside onto the night stand. “He was so excited when I told him that you’d be staying over again this weekend.”</p><p>The two men stood facing each other and Leo tried to hide the fact that he was blushing by clearing his throat and moving a hand through his hair. “I didn’t have anything else planned, so why should I say no?” He was so very well aware of the way that Cristiano was looking at him, “I’m not that heartless, you know.”</p><p>The Portuguese laughed, “I’d understand it if you’d claim that you have something better to do on your free day than watching Disney movies with my son. And I know that you’re not heartless. I never believed it, actually.” He didn’t take his eyes off Leo, as if waiting for a reaction from the younger man, but before Leo could’ve come up with anything to say, there was a crash from downstairs which broke the moment and the both of them hurried downstairs to find Junior trying to get a cooking pot out of a drawer. “O que eu te disse sobre isso,” Cristiano scolded his son, who turned around to look at both his father and Leo with an utterly innocent expression, “você não tem permissão para tocar em nada na cozinha!”</p><p>Junior flinched even though Cristiano didn’t use an especially stern tone of voice and his eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, sniffling and wiping at his nose with the back of his hand, “I-I only wanted to help so that we’ll be done sooner, Pai.”</p><p>Cristiano sighed and leaned down to kiss the top of his son’s head, “Shh it’s okay, I understand that. Sit with Leo while I cook, okay?” The boy blinked his tears away, nodded and moved over to where Leo had since sat down at the kitchen table, climbing into the Argentine’s lap as if it’s the most usual thing.</p><p>After dinner was over with, Leo helped Cristiano with the dishes and Junior changed into his Real Madrid pyjamas, they settled on the spacious couch in Cristiano’s living room. Junior was bouncing up and down where he was sitting with his teddy bear hugged to his chest and small bowl of snacks resting in his lap as his father worked on setting Netflix up, and Leo found himself getting excited just by seeing the young boy so happy. “Watch it niño,” he said, quickly reaching out to catch the bowl before it could’ve toppled over, “you don’t want those to get lost.” Junior gasped, nodded and took a cookie out of the bowl to nibble on it.</p><p>“Pai, can we watch Lion King now?”</p><p>Cristiano snorted from where he was standing near the TV, waiting for the movie to load, “There’s no need for you to be so impatient.”</p><p>“I’m not impatient, I’m excited!” the five-year-old retorted, happily munching on his cookie and grinning at his father.</p><p>“I can see that,” Cristiano laughed as he plopped back down onto the couch, and the way that Leo’s heart had somersaulted when the older man sat down beside him was quite embarassing. He almost jumped when their knees touched and quickly pulled his leg back, not wanting to give Cristiano a reason to be uncomfortable. That Cristiano ended up moving a bit closer to him so that there wasn’t a way for their knees to <em>not</em> touch during the course of the evening, Leo tried to ignore and not read too much into.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Nighttime routine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry if it seems a bit rusty, for some reason I struggled a lot with this chapter, as I moved to a different country and didn't really have time to write, but I wanted to continue this challenge :-) </p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo didn’t even think about trying to hide the smile that grew on his face as he watched how Cristiano pulled the duvet up to Junior’s chin and leaned down to kiss his son’s forehead, closing the book he had been reading from in the process and putting it down onto the nightstand, “Bons sonhos, meu amor.” The more often that Leo stayed in Madrid and with Cristiano during his free weekends, the more he got to know about the Portuguese’s daily routine. There had been things that he had known beforehand, of course, such as the fact that Cristiano always worked out thrice a day even on his days off, which thus never really were days off, and that he would prepare all of his meals on his own to make sure that he would only get to eat the best things.</p><p>While Leo had suspected and somehow already known it, he was still a bit surprised by how much the rest of Cristiano’s day revolved around his young son and definitely ashamed that there had been a time when he had been one of those people who believed that Cristiano didn’t take appropriate care of his son, that being a parent wasn’t what he wanted to be. He then knew that Cristiano lived for his son just as much as he lived for football. Leo’s smile faded and was replaced by am unwanted, and highly unnecessary blush when Cristiano stood up from where he had been sitting on the edge of Junior’s bed and walked over to where he was standing leaned against the door frame. There really wasn’t a reason as for why he was blushing at the way that Cristiano’s smile grew the closer he came to him and Leo tried to not move too fast when he takes a few steps backwards after the older man entered his personal space to close the door of Junior’s room behind him.</p><p>“Are you going out tonight?” It had since become somewhat of a standard question between them, as Leo never once answered with a yes but Cristiano asked him every single evening anyway. The Portuguese’s smile widened a bit more when Leo shook his head in negation, “What do you say if we get ready for bed and then play a round of FIFA? Only if you’re up for it, of course.”</p><p>Even though he knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance against Cristiano, Leo was up for it, the prospect of getting to spend more time with Cristiano exciting him more than it probably should’ve done it. They parted ways to go to their respective rooms and Leo told himself that he didn’t hurry to get through his nighttime routine as fast as he could’ve done it without skipping anything, just as he told himself that he wasn’t a bit nervous as he stepped out dressed in his oversized pyjamas. The fact that Cristiano was nowhere to be seen didn’t really come as a surprise for Leo, that the Portuguese indulged in an extensive skin care and beauty routine every evening was something that Leo had known even before he had befriended him.</p><p>While this arrangement of theirs has been going on for a couple of months at that point, he still failed to not feel nervous and awkward whenever he moved around Cristiano’s house without him being there with him, and so it was when he made his way to the living room in order to wait for Cristiano there. Sometimes Leo couldn’t believe that after years of hating and avoiding each other at any given occasion it had not taken them long to grow used and comfortable around each other even though he, for some unexplained reason, had troubles controlling his heart rate and blushing around Cristiano, he was comfortable. He wouldn’t have come to Madrid over and over again if the weekends he had spend with Cristiano and Junior so far weren’t some of his most joy-filled days.</p><p>Sitting down on the couch in Cristiano’s living room, Leo busied himself with his phone as he waited for the older man to join him and as it turned out, he didn’t have to wait for more than a couple of minutes before he heard the sound of footfalls approaching. “I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long,” was what Cristiano greeted him with and while Leo didn’t really have any expectations when he turned around on the couch, his smile froze because what he saw definitely wasn’t what he thought he would be met with.</p><p>Cristiano was shirtless, only dressed in a pair of loose-fitting Real sweatpants that revealed so much as a glimpse of the waistband that belonged to the CR7 underwear he was wearing and while it was far from the first time that Leo saw him without a shirt on, he couldn’t help himself but stare a bit, his gaze almost captivated by the sight and by the time that he managed to look at something other than the tanned, unblemished skin stretched over Cristiano’s impressive six pack, Cristiano was standing right there in front of him. Leo’s face burned up within the split of a second - they were friends, nothing more than that, and it felt wrong to stare. He also didn’t know why the fact that the Portuguese was shirtless bothered him like that, he has seen Gerard and Neymar shirtless at least a thousand times and he had never wasted a second thought over it!</p><p>Leo quickly looked away and up at Cristiano’s face that time, his brows narrowing out of reflex, and he blushed a darker shade of red when Cristiano laughed at his reaction, “It’s just a charcoal face mask, I didn’t mean to scare you.”</p><p>The tone of the older man’s voice was teasing, but Leo wasn’t offended in the sightest. Embarrassed, yes, but not offended. In fact, what Cristiano said helped him to feel a bit less awkward and he shook his head, “I know what it is, Cristiano. I just never used those things, Antonella did.” If Leo would’ve looked at Cristiano, he would’ve seen how something flashed behind the older man’s eyes at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. The squeal that escaped Leo when Cristiano took him by the wrist and pulled him off the couch and onto his feet as if he weighted nothing was rather high-pitchen and unmanly, but Leo didn’t get around to protest before Cristiano dragged him off into the direction of the stairs. He tried to ignore how warm Cristiano’s fingers felt where they were enclosed around his wrist, and how they only let go once they were in the upstairs bathroom even though he told him that he would follow him.</p><p>“Can I put it onto you?”</p><p>“What?” The question left him before he spotted the small tube that the Portuguese was holding and he nodded, unconsciously drawing in a deep breath when Cristiano, after having unscrewed the tube and setting it down onto the vanity unit, put a finger underneath his chin to tilt his head back a bit and began to apply the mask on his face with gentle strokes. The burning feeling that Cristiano’s finger left behind wasn’t due to an allergic reaction to the charcoal mask.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Phone call</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the long break, getting adapted to living in a new country just is harder than I thought it would be. Be assured that I won't abandon this! :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Pai? Pai? <em>Paaaaai?</em>”</p><p>Cristiano had closed his eyes and had forced himself to draw in a deep breath through his nose, to keep it in for a good few seconds before be had released it with an inaudible sigh. Even though he had a less than ideal day and had felt the harbingers of a headache nearing in on him, he had not wanted to let it out on his five-year-old son. It had been the promise that he had made, both to himself and Junior, when he had held his newborn son in his arms for the first time and he had never, ever wanted to break that promise. It had not mattered that Junior’s constant asking had annoyed him more than just a bit, Cristiano had turned around from where he had been in the process of making himself a smoothie and had smiled down at the young boy, who had looked up at him with big, hopeful eyes. The older man’s smile had widened, the boy had really been his everything. “What is it, meu amor?” Junior’s smile had grown wider as well when he had moved closer to him and had wrapped his arms around his waist, smiling that utterly angelic smile up at his father and Cristiano had already known that he would hardly be able to say no to whatever Junior would ask him. He had combed a hand through his son’s curls, “Hm, nino? What do you want?”</p><p>“Can you call Leo now?”</p><p>Once more suppressing a sigh that threatens to escape him, the Portuguese had set the bundle of kale aside and had crouched down to be at eye level with his son. Truth be told, Cristiano had little desire to go through a phone call. Not because he had no longer liked the younger Argentine - in fact, it had been quite the opposite and just that had been problematic. After the talk he had with Sergio earlier that day, he had needed time to think about what he had been supposed to do with Leo and the friendship which had developed between them. “Leo will be here tomorrow, nino. You can talk to him then, okay?</p><p>“<em>Nu-uh!</em>” his five-year-old son had whined, his shoulders dropping and his eyes becoming wider, more pleading, “Please, Pai? I really <em>really</em> want to talk to him <em>now</em>.” Junior had pushed his bottom lip out and Cristiano had been beaten, he simply couldn’t have broken the boy’s heart like that.</p><p>“Okay nino-”</p><p>“Yay, you’re the best!” Junior had hugged him once more before he had dashed out of the kitchen and to the living room, squealing with childlike delight. Cristiano had unconsciously shaken his head as he had watched him go and he had tried to ignore the familiar twinge in his chest. He had quickly dried his hands on a dish towel and had gotten his phone from where he had set it down onto the kitchen table; Junior had already been sitting on the couch, hugging his teddy bear and kicking his legs into the air, by the time that Cristiano had joined him. It had been clear that the boy had been excited, “Now, Pai?”</p><p>Cristiano may have cocked an eyebrow, but had decided to let it go by uncommented and it had only been at a later point of time that he had realised how seeing his son all excited because of Leo had been part of the reason behind the constricted feeling in his chest. He had squatted down by Junior’s side and had unlocked his phone, selecting Leo’s number. “Careful, don’t drop it,” he had admonished him after he put the call on speaker and had handed the phone over to the five-year-old, who had taken it with both hands. The Portuguese had hoped that Leo would actually accept the call or he’d have to deal with a very heartbroken Junior for the rest of the evening, “Stay here, okay? I’ll be in the kitchen.” Junior had nodded, his brows furrowed as he had focused on the call and the phone in his hands.</p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>Leo’s voice had resounded throughout the living room just as Cristiano had reached the door; he had told himself that he had not perceived the shudder that had gone through him. “Hi,” Junior had squealed, bouncing a bit where he had been sat on the couch, “hi Leo!” and Cristiano had moved on to the kitchen. He had heard his son’s laughter even from there, just as he had still been able to make out Leo’s voice.</p><p>“Niño?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s me Leo!” Leo had answered with the same warm laugh that he had always brought out whenever he had spoken to Junior, the one that had been so different than his Messi laugh and even though Cristiano had vehemently refused to admit it to himself, it had seeped right into his bones as he had continued to cut-up the vegetables for his smoothie. “Can I talk to you? I asked Pai and-and he gave me his phone so that I can talk with you!”</p><p>“Oh really, he did?”</p><p>“Yeah!” Both Junior and Leo had laughed and Cristiano had tried to make as few sounds as he possibly could’ve made when he had set the mixer up, ignoring the little voice in the back of his mind which had told him that he could go and join them. “Leo, will you play with me when you’re here? Will you? Please?”</p><p>Leo had laughed out loud, and Cristiano had closed his eyes, “Of course niño, I’ll play with you.”</p><p>Much to his amazement, but not really all that surprisingly, his son’s laughter had become even louder. Junior had always been a rather shy child and it would usually take him days, if not weeks to grow truly comfortable around new people but Leo and him had clicked even before the two adults had and Cristiano had listened to them until Leo had to end the call almost thirty minutes later.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Junior was on his way to the front door as soon as he saw a car pull up onto the drive way, having spend the last hour or so seated on the windowsill of his room after Cristiano had told him that Leo would arrive soon. The five-year-old had put on his Barça jersey and was hugging one of his footballs, giggling when he opened the door and downright jumped at Leo, who was standing there with a small suitcase at his side. “Hi Leo!”</p><p>“Hey niño, how are you?”</p><p>“Gooood. Can you play with me now, Leo?”</p><p>“Deixe ele entrar primeiro,” Cristiano interrupted, ruffling through Junior’s curls in an attempt to calm his son down a bit. “Calma, nino, let him come in first.” Whatever he wanted to say next died right in his throat when he noticed the faint blush on Leo’s face, and he moved aside to allow the younger man to enter and close the front door behind him.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Exercising</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry that it's taking me so long to update this, my mental health deteriorated a lot since I moved and the past few weeks haven't been easy for me. But I'm still trying my best, as I don't want to abandon this story, and I hope that there'll be better times soon :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Vamos Junior, já conversamos sobre isso. Não tenho tempo para você ficar brincando assim, e também não estou brincando. Vamos.”</p><p>Junior whined and shook his head, not moving from where he was sitting on the couch despite his father’s admonishing words, “But I don’t wanna go, Pai. I want to stay here with Leo! Por favor, Pai.”</p><p>Cristiano cocked an eyebrow, crouching down in front of his five-year-old to be at eye level with him but other than he had hoped, his silent warning turned out to be of little use. Junior merely pushed his bottom lip out in a perfect pout, crossed his arms over his chest with a huff and widened his already pleading eyes even further. Cristiano stayed unaffected by it, “A menos que você queira que eu conte e leve seu iPad embora, eu sugiro que você vá agora, <em>Junior</em>.”</p><p>“But-But Pai-”</p><p>Leo frowned in confusion; Junior had been as happy as even when he had left him to go to the bathroom because he had promised the boy that he would watch Frozen with him, and then Junior looked close to tears while Cristiano spoke to him with a low voice. Not wanting to meddle with Cristiano’s parenting duties, Leo came to stand by the door of the living room. Cristiano noticed his presence anyway, of course, and just as it had happened every time for the past few weeks, Leo felt his face heating up when the Portuguese looked directly at him. He couldn’t even tell as for why it happened. “Agora mesmo, não vou te dizer de novo.”</p><p>Leo might not have understood what it had been that Cristiano had told his young son, but he felt a pang of compassion when he saw how Junior’s shoulders dropped and how his usually so bright eyes filled with tears as the boy sniffled and climbed off the couch, leaving his iPad behind. Junior didn’t hesitate before he ran over to Leo and wrapped his arms around his waist. “I wanna stay with you,” he whimpered, “Leo, tell Pai to let me stay with you. Please please <em>please</em>.”</p><p>Leo let out a small sound of confusion, not quite knowing what to say as he had no idea about what had developed in the time that he was gone, and moved a hand through Junior’s unruly curls, “Niño, I don’t...”</p><p>Cristiano closed his eyes for a moment before he stood from his crouching position and walked over to Leo and his son, combing a hand through his own curls in a weary manner, “He’s supposed to stay with Sergio for the afternoon.”</p><p>Junior whined louder at that, pressing his face further against Leo’s stomach who looked down at him a bit uncertain, “You like Uncle Ser, don’t you?”</p><p>“Yeah but I wanna stay with <em>you</em>.”</p><p>Cristiano sighed, “Nino, you know that you can’t stay here alone,” and put a hand onto his son’s back. “Ser promised that he’ll play with you, and it’s only for two hours, meu amor.”</p><p>“He can stay with me if you’re going out?” Leo blurted out, not thinking about trying to connect the dots between Ser babysitting Junior and a possibility of Cristiano and him going out together, since they both knew that the press wouldn’t hesitate to tear them apart over them being friends instead of the enemies they were supposed to be and had been for many years.</p><p>Cristiano sighed yet again. “I... well,” the Portuguese huffed a laugh, “I wanted to go for a run and I hoped that you would join me, Leo.”</p><p>“Oh.” The younger man needed to look away when Cristiano smiled at him at him, and he told himself that he wasn’t blushing profusely. <em>Get a grip of yourself.</em> “Yeah, I’ll join you.”</p><p>Since he was looking down at Junior, who still had his face hidden away, he missed how Cristiano’s smile widened noticeably at his answer, “Great, I’ll call Ser and tell him that we’re coming.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>The five-year-old eventually stopped making a fuss after Cristiano had bribed him by allowing that he could take his favourite snacks along with him and Leo had promised him that he’ll watch Frozen with him later that day, and Cristiano let out a sigh or relief when he reversed his Bugatti off Sergio’s driveway after the Spaniard had taken his son into his house. “I really don’t understand it,” Cristiano laughed, shaking his head, “he usually loves to stay with Ser.”</p><p>Leo merely hummed, looking out of the window. He tried not to make it too obvious, but he was already nervous that there were cameras on them and they didn’t even make it to the park yet. The drive didn’t take them all that long but since Leo never really explored Madrid beyond the grounds of Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the main tourist attractions like the Prado, he didn’t have any idea where Cristiano was taking him to. He didn’t bother to ask, however, too stunned by the way that the Portuguese apparently wasn’t worried that there would be photos of them together. Cristiano swiftly parked his car in the far back of the parking lot, and the two of them didn’t really speak as they got out and prepared themselves for their run. Leo went so far as to pull the hood of his hoodie over his head and draw it close a bit.</p><p>It did well to hide the blush that came up at Cristiano’s chuckle, too, “Come on, let’s go.” The park which Cristiano took him to turned out to be the one surrounding the Templo Debod, and it was a bit hard for Leo to focus on the ground in front of him rather than the view of the mountains behind Madrid that the park offered to them, as it was too good of a sight to just run past it. Leo didn’t mention that, however, as he didn’t want to interrupt the monologue that Cristiano had begun at some point about other parks that were good to go for a jog in, and he made sure that he mustered a smile whenever he turned his head to look at the Portuguese even though he wasn’t listening closely. The monologue only stopped once they came to stand by the temple’s ruins, both sweaty and out of breath, “So, what do you say?”</p><p>If Leo’s face wouldn’t have already been red, it would’ve burned by then. “I...” he trailed off, having to clear his throat, but before he could’ve muttered an explanation as for why he hadn’t listened Cristiano laughed and took a step into his personal space.</p><p>“I asked whether you’d like to come here another time, Leo. Maybe for a walk with Junior?” </p><p>There was a small, albeit warm and undeniably honest smile on Cristiano’s face when Leo looked up at him. It made his heart somersault, “I... sure, I’d like to do that.”</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Wearing each other's clothes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Updates will continue to come at a slow pace, but I'll try my best to get them done as quickly as I can. Thank you for your lovely comments and the kudos I've received so far, they mean a lot to me! :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo just finished rinsing the shampoo out of his hair when he perceived the sound of what had to be glass breaking, followed by a cry that unmistakably came from Junior and he cursed quite loudly, almost slipping on the tiles as he hurried to turn off the shower and grab his towel. Cristiano had asked him whether he’d be okay with watching Junior while he’d drive to the grocery store to get a few things and Leo had not thought about it for a second before he had said yes, it had also been Cristiano who had reassured him that he’d be good to go and take a shower because Junior was watching his favourite show and wouldn’t leave the couch.</p><p>“Junior?” Leo called out, his worry causing his voice to tremble and his heart to beat up into his throat while he waited for an answer, but all that he could make out were louder sobs that grew more desperate by the second. “Junior, niño?” Snapping out of his momentarily shock, he dried himself off as quickly as he could’ve done it, discarded the balled-up towel into the laundry basket and blindly reached for the new set of clothes he had put onto the vanity unit before he had stepped into the shower not even fifteen minutes earlier. Leo called out the five-year-old’s name while he slipped the hoodie over his head, but once more only got to hear more sobs as an answer and he nearly stumbled over his own feet as he scrambled to get his boxer shorts and sweatpants on, already out of the door before he even pulled them up, “Junior?”</p><p>“L-Le-eo,” Junior sobbed from downstairs, “<em>Le-e-eo</em>,” and Leo ran down the stairs with little consideration that he could slip and hurt himself quite badly.</p><p>“Niño-” The wave of relief that washed over him when Junior ran out of the living room and over to him was immense because it wiped out his fear of the boy being seriously hurt, and Leo immediately took Cristiano’s son into his arms, hugging the sobbing boy close. He combed a hand through Junior’s curls, “What happened?” It wasn’t a surprise that the five-year-old simply continued to cry, clinging onto Leo and pressing his face against Leo’s stomach as if he wanted to hide from the world. Leo eventually managed to pull back enough to get a look at Junior’s face. He gasped at the sight of the bruise that was forming on his forehead and the small cut it surrounded, “Niño...”</p><p>“I di-idn’t want to break it,” the young boy sobbed, looking up at Leo with wide eyes and he brought a hand up to rub at them. Junior looked so heartbroken that it tore at the strings of Leo’s heart, “Pai wi-will be <em>so-o mad</em>.”</p><p>Leo clicked his tongue and brushed Junior’s curls away from his forehead to get a look at it, “What did you break?”</p><p>Cristiano’s son took one of Leo’s hand and walked him back to the living room. His breath hitched with a sob, “’M sorry, eu realmente não queria quebrá-lo.” Leo sighed inaudibly when they came to stand in the door of the living room and he closed his eyes for a second, giving Junior’s hand a squeeze. The glass coffee table which had stood between the two couches was reduced to a heap of shards and if Leo were to judge by the way that the decorative pillowes were strewn around the room, he would’ve guessed that Junior had jumped on the couches and had gotten overly daring.</p><p>“We’ll clean this up and I’ll talk to your Pai about it later, okay? All that counts is that you’re alright, niño.” The boy nodded and hugged Leo around the waist, sniffling as he did so. It was only natural that Junior seeked comfort after something so scary happened to him. When Leo moved to get the cleaning utensils out of the storeroom, the five-year-old followed his every step rather than waiting for him and even though Leo since realised just how attached Junior was to him, it still touched him. He’s grown so fond of the boy over the past few months too, of course. Leo picked up the biggest shards of glass, wrapped them in kitchen roll and put them into a garbage bag, swept up the smaller one and vacuumed the living room after he had put the table’s frame aside and it was only a matter of minutes until the proofs of Junior’s accident were gone. “See? All done, niño.”</p><p>There were still tears in Junior’s eyes and he nodded, blinking hard. He downright threw himself against Leo when he had the chance to do so, nodding when was being spoken to. “Let’s get your little wound cleaned up, yeah?” The five-year-old might’ve been a bit too big to be carried comfortably, but Leo picked him up nonetheless and Junior sniffled, resting his cheek on Leo’s shoulder, sniffling again when he was put down onto the closed toilet lid. Leo kissed the top of the boy’s head, “It’ll be just a minute.” He soaked a washcloth in warm water and cupped Junior’s chin to tilt his head back and gently wipe his face, cleaning up the bit of dried blood and sticky tears before he rummaged the drawers of the vanity unit to find a bandaid.</p><p>Leo made sure that he was as gentle as he could’ve been as he put it onto the wound, rewarding Junior with another kiss atop his head, “Good boy, niño. Would you like to have pancakes? I can make you some.”</p><p>Just like he hoped, the boy perked up, “Pancakes?”</p><p>“You can help me if you want to,” Leo said, his voice as gentle as always and Junior immediately took his hand when he offered it to him.</p><p>~~~</p><p>While Leo prepared the batter for the pancakes Junior liked so much, Cristiano’s son was sitting on the countertop beside him, absentmindedly kicking his legs into the air and eating quartered strawberries out of the bowl Leo had set aside earlier. The Argentine snorted a laugh, “Don’t eat them all niño, we need them for the pancakes.”</p><p>“I won’t,” Junior giggled, picked up another piece and popped into his mouth with a squeal, “I promise!”</p><p>Leo gives him a playfully stern look before he winks at the boy, making him laugh, and added another pancake onto the stack of finished ones to pour the remaining batter into the pan, spreading the batter out evenly. It was then that he heard the front door being unlocked and Cristiano moving into the house, “Leo? Junior?”</p><p>“In the kitchen,” Leo called out, darting a look over his shoulder to see the older man approaching.</p><p>“Hi Pai!”</p><p>He used the fact that he had to tend to the pancake as an excuse to not look at Cristiano for longer, but failed to suppress a flinch when the other man gasped in shock, set the grocery bags down and hurried over to where Junior was sitting, “Meu amor, what happened to you?” Out of the corner of his eye, Leo was able to watch how Cristiano cupped his son’s face to get a look at Junior’s forehead.</p><p>“Eu-Eu pulei no sofá e caí na mesa,” Junior whispered, his voice breaking a not. “Sinto muito, realmente sinto muito, Pai.”</p><p>Cristiano sighed, cleared his throat and hugged the boy close instead of answering right away, “Eu disse para você não pular no sofá, não disse? Mas está tudo bem, tudo está bem desde que você não se machuque, meu amor.”</p><p>The five-year-old sniffled, “That’s what Leo said too.”</p><p>“Is it?”</p><p>Leo pressed his lips together as he put the last pancake onto the plate, smiling when Junior leaned over.</p><p>“Can I eat them now, Leo?”</p><p>“Sure niño.”</p><p>“Yay, pancakes!”</p><p>Cristiano helped his son down from the countertop and watched how the boy ran over to the kitchen table that was already set, crossing his arms over his chest. Leo felt himself blushing when the Portuguese eyed him from head to toe; he somewhat expected to be scolded for not watching Junior closer but what he was told was quite the opposite. “You look good it it.” At the confused sound Leo made the older man threw his head back to laugh, the baritone laugh the one he only ever let out in private, “My hoodie, Leo. You look good wearing it.”</p><p>Leo’s face heated up when he followed Cristiano’s gaze and looked down at himself, letting out the same choked sound as before. There he was, wearing a hoodie with the red and green CR7 logo right on his chest. <em>How didn’t he notice it earlier?</em> “I, uhm, well I was in the shower when I heard Junior crying and I thought that I put my clothes there so I just grabbed it and-” He cleared his throat and huffed a nervous laugh, “I’ll just go and change now.”</p><p>Cristiano took a step into his direction, and Leo unconsciously answered by taking a step back. If he would’ve looked up, he could’ve seen how the Portuguese’s smile widened barely noticeably, “Keep it. It suits you.” Leo’s breath hitched but he nodded, picking up the plate of pancakes with unsteady hands and his eyes widened when Cristiano moved even closer to him, almost crowding him against the countertop. “Keep it,” Cristiano insisted, winking at Leo before he snatched a pancake off the place the younger man was holding and turned to join his son at the kitchen table.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Caring for the sick one</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo had noticed that there had been something going on with his friend when Cristiano had only barely been able to keep his eyes open as he had been sitting at the breakfast table Leo had set for the two of them quite early that Saturday morning. Other than it had gone the other weekends which Leo had spend in Madrid, Cristiano had told him that he’d be spending the day in the gym with a few of his teammates for an impromptu training session and would only come back in the afternoon and prior to that morning, Leo had never seen Cristiano so unmotivated. He had not addressed it, however, and had instead wordlessly put Cristiano’s kale smoothie down on the table in front of the older man.</p><p>“Thank you,” the Portuguese had said after a few seconds, shifting in his chair with a suppressed sigh. Cristiano had moved a hand over his face and had picked up his smoothie with the other to take the first sip.</p><p>“You’re welcome.” Leo had made sure that he had not been looking at Cristiano too conspicuously while he had nipped at his Latte Macchiato and had eaten his fruit salat, enjoying the silence that had hung over the room.</p><p>The older man had sighed yet again, just as wearily, and Leo had only raised his gaze to look at him again when Cristiano had stood and had thrown his head back to empty the remainder of the smoothie like a shot, “I’ll text you if I know when I’ll be coming back, yeah?”</p><p>“That’s okay,” Leo had answered, underlining the truth behind his words with a nod and he had taken a slow sip from his coffee while he had watched how Cristiano had walked out of the kitchen and to the front door, almost dragging his feet as if he had been too tired to walk properly. He had listened to the sound of the front door being opened and keys being plucked off the key rack and had blurted out Cristiano’s name not even a second later, blushing when he had realised how loud he had said it.</p><p>“Hm?” Cristiano had peeked into the kitchen and Leo had blushed a shade darker, clearing his throat.</p><p>“You... forgot your protein shake,” he had muttered, leaning over to pick up the shaker from where Cristiano had put it earlier.</p><p>“Oh.” The older man had ruffled through his hair before he had moved his hand over his face, a gesture that Leo had seen more times that morning than he had seen Cristiano do it in months and he had failed to suppress the hot flush that shot through him at the way Cristiano’s and his fingers had brushed against each other when he had handed him the shaker. “Thank you,” Cristiano had said, mustering a smile, “you’re really becoming my lifesaver, Leo,” and waving the shaker at the younger man before he had hurried to get to his car. “See you later!”</p><p>Leo had watched him leave, trying to tell himself that he needed to stop worrying about Cristiano’s health which had really been anything but his business, despite the fact that Cristiano and him had been friends; he had actually casted those thoughts aside when he had heard the soft pitter-patter of footsteps coming down the stairs a few minutes after Cristiano had left and Junior had come into sight, his hair tousled from sleep, his face scrunched up and his teddy securely held in his arms, “’Eo?”</p><p>“Good morning, niño.” Leo had taken the five-year-old’s face into his hands and had kissed both of his cheeks like he had always done it, smiling down at the boy and brushing a few of his curls away from his forehead, “Are you hungry yet?”</p><p>“Yeah, Mr. Teddy’s hungry too. He wants... uhm... scrambled eggs!” Junior had squealed and had held his teddy right into Leo’s face, who had laughed and patted Cristiano’s son atop the head.</p><p>“Okay then, scrambled eggs it is for you and Mr. Teddy.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>Despite having told himself that it wasn’t his business to worry, Leo’s eyebrows pulled together when Cristiano texted him just after ten, not even two hours after he had left and hours before Leo had expected him to come back, to let him know that he was on the way. Without thinking about it, he set aside the book he was reading and left the living room for the kitchen, where he set up the kettle, put out a cup and rummaged through the cabinet under the sink where he knew the hot-water bottle was stashed. The front door was unlocked just after Leo put the teabag into the cup of hot water and he involuntarily smiled at the squeal that came from the living room, quickly filling the hot-water bottle too, “Paaaai!”</p><p>The five-year-old jumped up from where he was playing with his newest Lego set to run up to Cristiano and greet him by hugging his legs, but other than he usually did it, Cristiano merely patted the top of his son’s head. “Hey meu amor, espero que você esteja bem,” he said, his voice rather low and hoarse and Leo, that time, wasn’t surprised when he peeked out of the kitchen and saw how pale Cristiano’s face was.</p><p>“You’re back already?”</p><p>The Portuguese offered him an undeniably weak smile, “They send me home, but it’s not as if I really managed to get through warm-up so...”</p><p>Leo was able to watch how he shuddered right where he stood, which only caused his worry to grow bigger. “I just made tea,” he stated it as if it was a coincidence and not fully intentional. “You can have it if you want to?”</p><p>Cristiano nodded and his feverish eyes stayed fixed onto the younger man as he had absentmindedly combed through his son’s curls, “You’re not my maid Leo, you don’t have to take care of me.”</p><p>Leo huffed a laugh, “I know that,” and disappeared into the kitchen again. He listened how Cristiano and Junior moved into the living room, and how the Portuguese shushed Junior when the boy begun to chatter about his Lego game.</p><p>“Not right now, nino.”</p><p>“But Pai-”</p><p>“Junior,” Leo called out, “niño, come here for a second.” The five-year-old came running to him in an instant with a wide grin on his face and Leo held a finger to his lips to signal the boy to be quiet. Junior’s eyes grew wide. “Your Pai isn’t feeling so good right now, niño. He needs us to be quiet, okay?”</p><p>“I can be quiet,” Cristiano’s son intoned with a stage whisper, “I can!”</p><p>Leo dropped a kiss into Junior’s messy curls, “Good boy niño, if you go and get your headphones from upstairs you can watch Netflix for a bit.”</p><p>He didn’t scold him when Junior squealed before he ran off - he was just a young boy, after all. Making sure that the kettle was turned off, Leo brought both the cup of tea and the hot-water bottle into the living room, where Cristiano had since sprawled out on one of the couches. Cristiano had a decorative pillow under his head, his feet were propped up on the arm rest and his forearm was draped over his eyes as if he wanted to block the daylight out. With the blanket that covered him up to his chin, he looked unusually vulnerable. Pressing his lips together, Leo put the cup down as quietly as he could in order to not startle the other man.</p><p>Cristiano swung his legs off the edge of the couch and sat up with a groan, the blanket bunching in his lap, “Thanks.” Leo smiled and handed the hot-water bottle over to the Portuguese, who accepted it and groaned as he put it under his hoodie rather than just the blanket before he picked up the cup and began to sip at the tea.</p><p>“Leo?”</p><p>“In the living room, niño.”</p><p>“Can I watch Netflix now?”</p><p>“Sure, come here.” Leo sat down on the opposite couch and Junior ran across the room to joining him, already putting his headphones in while Leo typed away at his phone to find the series the boy has been watching for the past few days.</p><p>“Be careful,” Cristiano admonished his son as he set the cup down and went back into a lying position, suppressing a pained groan, "don’t drop it."</p><p>Junior nodded in response to what his father told him, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the phone screen and watching the intro of his favourite series rolling up with a smile on his face. Leo tried not to jostle Junior too much when he leaned over to snatch his book from the coffee table before he lifted his left arm to allow the five-year-old to curl against him, which Junior immediately did. The boy settled in with a sigh; his weight was familiar to Leo and he pulled him a bit closer, flipping the book open with his free hand to pick up reading where he left off earlier. Since he thought that Cristiano went back to dozing, he was oblivious to the way that Cristiano kept looking over to Junior and him.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Hair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A bit of a different prompt fill this time, but I really like how it turned out :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cristiano didn’t know when it had first become noticeable to him; it could’ve been years before Leo and him had become friends, before Leo had begun to come to Madrid to spend the weekends with Junior and him, but once he had really noticed it, there had been no way that he could’ve missed it any more: Leo used to play with his hair. <em>A lot</em>. Then that Cristiano wasn’t able to miss it any longer, he couldn’t quite believe that he had not caught it months earlier because Leo’s hand was in his hair a ridiculous amount of time every day.</p><p>The first thing he saw of the younger man in the morning was him coming out of the guestroom at the other end of the corridor with a hand in his tousled-by-sleep hair and a sleepy smile on his face which made Cristiano happier than it probably should’ve done it, considering that they were nothing but friends. Close friends maybe, but friends all the same. Cristiano was amazed by the way that Leo’s hand slipped into his hair as if he didn’t even notice it, combed through it when Leo laughed and ruffled it whenever he tried to hide the fact that he was blushing at something Cristiano told him. He told himself that it was purely coincidentally how many times he caught himself watching Leo touch his hair, that he didn’t actually want to watch Leo as the younger man was sitting at the kitchen table, after they had brought Junior to bed together, with a knee drawn to his chest and his right hand absentmindedly moving through his hair while he was engrossed in a book.</p><p>Somehow, in a way that he couldn’t have explained it if someone would’ve asked him about it, Cristiano was intrigued by the serenity of it, Leo looked so at peace that Cristiano never wanted to disturb him. What he didn’t miss was that Leo’s hand appeared to be so much more rough if he happened to be stressed out or just had a bad week in general, which made it quite easy for Cristiano to ascertain Leo’s mood whenever the younger man arrived in Madrid late every Friday evening. He tried not to be obvious about it, of course, and so he refrained himself from asking what had happened when the first thing Leo did after having slipped into the passenger’s seat of his Bugatti was to grasp at his hair for just a second before he greated him with a small smile and a softly-spoken hello.</p><p>Sergio might’ve told him that he should be bolder, take a figurative step into Leo’s space to find out whether there was a chance for them to be more than close friends, but Cristiano wasn’t ready for that yet - simply because there was no way for him to tell what Leo’s reaction would be, he didn’t even know if Leo could be interested in him so the more he watched the other, the more Cristiano allowed himself to wallow in the thoughts of what <em>could be</em> if Leo <em>would be</em> open to being more than just a friend to him. God, he knew that it was dangerous and quite possibly very heartbreaking, and yet he couldn’t stop.</p><p>Junior absolutely adored Leo. Everyone knew that his relationship with Irina didn’t last because she didn’t get along with his son and his mother, didn’t even show an effort to make it work and in hindsight, Cristiano was glad that he kicked her out more than two years ago. Junior never asked where she went, if she would come back - and yet he was inconsolable every time that he would put him to bed on Sunday because he knew that he’d wake up in the morning to find Leo gone again. The Argentine might’ve pandered to every single one of Junior’s wishes whenever he saw a chance to do so, but it made his son so happy that Cristiano didn’t have the heart to do anything to stop it. Not that he really wanted to, even if he always claimed that he’d make sure that Junior wouldn’t grow up to be completely spoiled.</p><p>Cristiano tried to hide the sigh that was growing in his chest and instead raised the cup of tea to his mouth, hoping that he wouldn’t interrupt the tranquility which had since laid itself over the scene in his kitchen like a blanket. While he was standing leaned against the countertop while he nipped at his tea, Leo was sat at the kitchen table, a book in front of him and his right hand in his hair. <em>Like always</em>. The thumb of Leo’s left hand was tracing the rim of his own cup and his lip was caught between his teeth as his eyes moved over the pages, eagerly taking in the printed words. Cristiano smiled into his cup without being aware of it, his mind wandering off to wonder whether Leo’s hair was as soft as it looked and if it smelled like Leo’s pomegranate shampoo that had since claimed its place in Cristiano’s shower.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Tea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the late update, it literally took me a week to write this because I'm going through a writer's block on top of everything that's already happening (and it seemed so much better in my mind).</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo absolutely hated the winter. His friends knew that he didn’t use the word <em>hate</em> lightly - opposed to popular belief, he had never actually hated Cristiano to begin with back when they had merely acknowledged each others presence and Cristiano had let an indirect insult slip out from time to time, but Leo detested the months between October and March with all of his heart. Even though the winters in Barcelona, and Spain in general, might not were the worst there could’ve been, the temperatures were always at least ten degrees below what he was comfortable with.</p><p>If he was given the chance to, he wouldn’t leave his house unless it would absolutely necessary, would stay inside with the heating turned almost all the way up and whenever he <em>would</em> step outside, he did so wearing at least three layers of clothing and even though the big scarfs he wore were great when it had come to hide his face from ambushing paparazzi, they too were a hindrance at the end of the day. During the worst of the winter, when the temperatures dropped close to the freezing point, Leo’s perfect day consisted of making himself a pot of tea, wrap himself up in a blanket and spend hours cuddled-up on the couch to read a book or watch a series.</p><p>It was what Leo liked to do and what he had done quite regularly before he had spend the only free days of his weeks in Madrid - because Cristiano and Junior seemed to be the polar opposite of him. He hadn’t even been all that surprised when he had found out. There were days when Cristiano and Junior spend the entire forenoon outside, would only come hurrying inside to eat the lunch Leo made for them, without Cristiano having to ask him to do it, before father and son disappeared right back outside. Leo didn’t have any idea whether he was simply imagining it or not, but to him it was as if they spend even more time in the spacious garden behind Cristiano’s house than they had done during the summer and at first, it had been easy for him to turn down Junior’s plea to join them because if there was one thing he disliked more than the freezing temperatures and inconvenient clothing, it was the fact that he always blushed to a bright shade of red when he was exposed to the cold air for more than a few minutes. </p><p>His blushing had earned him more teasing comments in the past than he would’ve liked to and while he knew that the chances of Cristiano teasing him weren’t high at all, considering that they were friends, even close friends at that, too, Leo didn’t actually want the Portuguese to find out. He already had hard enough of a time to keep himself from blushing whenever Cristiano happened to come a bit closer, something that he refused to think about as he feared that he then wouldn’t be able to look at <em>his friend</em> anymore.</p><p>That Junior could be quite adamant Leo had realised rather quickly during his first few stays in Madrid, though coming from Cristiano’s son, it was hardly a surprise. The five-year-old was never impudent about it, however. and it usually weren’t materialistic things that he would beg for either. He’d ask Leo to play with him for a few more minutes or to read him one more chapter of his bedtime story, always accompanying his pleading with a well-played pout and puppy dog eyes, would beg Leo to now fly back to Barcelona so that they could play together when he’d come back home from preschool the next day.</p><p>Leo gave in most of the time, no matter how often Cristiano would remind him that he didn’t need to indulge in every one of his wishes as he wasn’t staying with them to be Junior’s nanny - so when he shook his head and stated that he couldn’t go outside and play football, the look of shock which showed on Junior’s face was a real one. “W-What?” Knowing that he probably would’ve given in if he would’ve looked down at Cristiano’s son, Leo simply resumed to rinse the dishes that were stacked in the sink. “But I really wanna play with you.” The five-year-old hugged his football to his chest and moved a bit closer to Leo, looking up at him with the same puppy dog eyes as always, “<em>Please</em>, Leo.”</p><p>The Argentine sighed inaudibly and closed his eyes for a second before he turned around to face Junior, “I’m sorry niño, I really... don’t have the time to play right now, okay? I’m sure that you’ll have fun with your Pai, we can play later if you want to, yeah?” His heart ached when Junior ran off before he had even finished speaking and he swallowed hard as he tended back to the dishes, he was very fond of the boy but at the same time far more scared of making Cristiano uncomfortable and risking their friendship, so Leo merely sighed yet again and told himself that he’d find a way to make it up to Junior because he certainly didn’t want the five-year-old to be cross with him either. </p><p>He couldn’t have been alone in the kitchen for longer than a minute before he suddenly found himself trapped in a pair of unyielding arms and frogmarched out of the kitchen. It happened so quickly and unexpected that Leo dropped the tea towel he was holding with a squeak; Cristiano and him never hugged before so he all but expected something like that. The fact that he was trapped between a strong chest and equally strong arms made him blush more than any cold weather could’ve done it in that moment, “Cris-” The Portuguese merely clicked his tongue and Leo was sure that he could hear Junior’s giggling coming from the living room. “Cristiano!”</p><p>“You’re not my maid, you’re not here to make sure that my kitchen is spotless,” Cristiano laughed, only letting go of Leo once they reached the coat rack by the front door, “and I know you too well for you to say that you don’t want to play football with us.”</p><p>“What-”</p><p>“Put on your jacket,” the Portuguese said, taking said piece of clothing off the rack, “and let’s go.” Cristiano’s smile was almost blinding and Leo’s heart somersaulted in return, “The dishes can wait, Leo. Come on, I promise that it’ll be fun.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>“Yaaay!” Junior thrusted his gloved fists into the air and let out a triumphant laugh while Cristiano, dramatically as ever, sat down on the leaf-covered grass before he sprawled out as if someone had run into him, “We won Leo, we won!” Cristiano’s son ran up to Leo, slung his arms around his middle and hugged him tight, “We <em>wooon!</em>”</p><p>Leo’s laughter was almost as gleeful as Junior’s, he had lost his scarf and had opened his jacket a while ago and even though he felt his face burning from the cold, he didn’t waste a single thought about that while he hugged Junior back, “Yeah niño, we won! Your Pai had no chance, did he?”</p><p>Junior shook his head, “No, he had no chance!” and let go of Leo to run to where his football had come to rest in Cristiano’s goal.</p><p>Leo sobered a bit as he watched Junior and he zipped his jacket back up with trembling hands, he pushed them deep into the pockets of the jacket as he dared to look over to Cristiano, who was still sprawled out on the ground defeat. “This is... embaraçoso pra caralho,” the Portuguese said once he noticed that Leo was watching him. He was smiling again when he got back onto his feet and brushed a few leafs off his clothes. “Don’t tell anyone.”</p><p>“I mean we did beat you in the last Clásico...” Leo started, but trailed off when Cristiano cocked an eyebrow. “Okay, I promise that I won’t tell.”</p><p>Other than he had hoped, Cristiano gaze stayed on him after their short conversation died down and he cleared his throat, pulling the collar of his jacket a bit higher, “You’re cold.” It wasn’t a question as much as it was a statement and if Leo wouldn’t have been looking at Junior, he wouldn’t have flinched in surprise when Cristiano suddenly cupped a hand against his cheek and while the touch didn’t last for longer than a second, it left a burning handprint behind, “You should’ve said something.” Leo opened and closed his mouth without getting a sound out and it was only when Cristiano made no move put more space between them that he came up with an answer.</p><p>“I-I get cold easily,” he tried to argue, “it’s not-”</p><p>The Portuguese snorted, successfully cutting Leo off, and bend down to pick up the scarf Leo had taken off during their game, “You <em>should</em> have said something.” He wrapped the scarf around Leo’s neck, smiling down at him as he did so, “I don’t want you to get sick.”</p><p>“I won’t,” Leo whispered, so quietly that he didn’t know whether Cristiano could hear him because the other merely continued to smile at him for a moment longer.</p><p>“Junior, venha aqui! Come on let’s go inside, you can have a hot chocolate if you want.” The five-year-old dashed past Leo and his father back to the house, already calling out for them to follow him so that he could get his promised drink as quickly as possible. “And I think that you could use a tea, no?” When a nod turned out to be the only response Leo could muster, Cristiano’s smile widened, “Okay then.”</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Cooking together (1/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for all the lovely comments I got so far, they really brighten my days! :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I got everything.”</p><p>Leo looked up just in time to see Cristiano entering the kitchen and he quickly looked back down at the book in his hands, as the sight of the Portuguese struggling with half a dozen bags made him want to laugh and he didn’t actually <em>want</em> to laugh at him. He failed to suppress a snort when Cristiano set the bags down onto the counter with a groan, however, already knowing that the Portuguese probably carried them all at once just so that he wouldn’t need to make a second trip to his car and he slotted the bookmark back in between the pages before he stood from where he had made himself comfortable at the kitchen table and moved over to Cristiano, who since begun to unpack the grocery bags. </p><p>It was only the two of them on that Friday night, Junior had been invited to a sleepover that one of his friends from preschool organised and when Cristiano had asked Leo whether he’d like for them to cook dinner together, Leo had immediately agreed. He might’ve been a bit exhausted from his week, but spending time with Cristiano was maybe even more relaxing than an early night and ten hours of sleep could’ve been. “Can I help you with something?”</p><p>The older man turned his head and smiled at him, blindly continuing to unpack the groceries while he kept looking at Leo for a moment. “You can help with the cooking, I didn’t plan to exclude you from this.” Leo gave a small smile in return and leaned against the counter top with his arms loosely crossed over his chest. He watched Cristiano unpack the various things he bought, trying to figure out what it could’ve been that they would be cooking and as if Cristiano was able to read his mind, he answered to Leo’s question before Leo even could’ve voiced it out. “I thought that we could make Picadinho,” the Portuguese said, smiling at Leo from over his. “Are you okay with it? It’s my Mãe’s recipe, I promise that it’s perfect.”</p><p>Leo’s smile widened, “Sure, that’s fine,” and he didn’t lose it again as he continued to watch how Cristiano spread out all the groceries and balled up the paper bags to put them away before he clapped his hands and grinned at Leo.</p><p>“Great, let’s do it!”</p><p>“Do you want me to wash the vegetables?” Cristiano nodded, stepping aside to allow Leo to gather the variety of vegetables and put them into the sink to given them a rinse. While he washed the vegetables, he was able to made out the clatter of Cristiano pulling out a few bowls, plates and a pair of cutting boards from behind him and he moved away from the sink once all of the vegetables were clean to allow Cristiano to wash the shrimps he had since taken out of their package, “Do we need both, the shrimps and the pork?”</p><p>The older man hummed in agreement and transferred the shrimps from the colander into one of the bowls. “It sounds a bit weird but I promise that it’s good,” he laughed as he came to stand at Leo’s side again, “it’s a Madeiran dish, Leo.” He stood so close beside Leo that his upper arm was downright pressed against Leo’s shoulder and the younger man forced himself to <em>not</em> put space between them - he only would’ve made Cristiano think that he was reading something into it when Cristiano was only being friendly like a <em>friend</em> was supposed to be. If Leo wouldn’t have already washed his hands, he would’ve run them through his hair just to have an outlet for his inexplicable nervousness. “The vegetables need to be cut into cubes, about two centimetre big,” Cristiano went on, moving the bowls and plates around as if to bring them into an order only he understood. “Can you do that?”</p><p>Leo allowed himself to laugh out loud. He accepted the knife that Cristiano was holding out for him to take, “I think that I’ll be able to cut vegetables, Cristiano,” and tried to ignore the way that his heart somersaulted when Cristiano’s index finger skimmed across the back of his hand. It was a touch that happened to be dragged out a bit too much to have happened accidentally, but Leo vehemently refused to allow his mind to wander off into that direction because they were <em>friends</em> and he was sure that Cristiano certainly hadn’t meant it like <em>that</em>. He snapped back into the there and then when Cristiano, out of accident, pushed his own cutting board off the counter.</p><p>“Sorry,” the Portuguese hurried to apologise and Leo took a step back as Cristiano bend down to pick the cutting board back up; he missed the faint blush which was spread out over the other man’s cheeks because Cristiano immediately turned away from him once he was in an upright position, grabbing his phone from where he had set it aside earlier. Leo didn’t say it, but he was grateful for the music that was put on as it lifted the last bit of tension which had been left behind and he found himself relaxing after a few more moments. Cristiano hummed along to the Portuguese song which was playing in the background while he deftly cubed the pork loin to put them into the marinade he had whipped together beforehand and if Leo were to judge by how he had added the spices without any measurements, he would’ve claimed that Cristiano must’ve cooked it at least a dozen times.</p><p>He winced when Cristiano was suddenly standing behind him, not having noticed him moving and before he had the chance to fully realise it, Cristiano’s hands were already on his. “You’re cutting them too small,” Cristiano murmured. His voice was soft but laced with its baritone hint and <em>right</em> next to Leo’s ear and Leo’s face burned up from one second to another because there was just so much of Cristiano in his space; he felt Cristiano’s chest aligned with his back, Cristiano’s arms pretty much kept him locked in place and Cristiano’s hands were big enough to completely cover his own. Leo went a bit pliant, allowing the Portuguese to correct the way that he was holding the knife, “Just like that, okay?” Cristiano’s voice was as low as it had been a moment ago and Leo let out a breath he wasn’t aware of having held in, his mind reeling due to the way that Cristiano didn’t pull his hands away after he corrected him.</p><p>“Yeah,” he whispered back. It was only then that Cristiano retreated and if Leo wouldn’t have been so stunned, he probably would’ve smacked himself for missing the warmth of his touches. Cristiano resumed his own tasks as if nothing had happened and Leo did it him alike after having stared at his hands for a moment longer, lost in his thoughts and with a burning face.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Washing dishes (2/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I still feel like I'm not over that writer's block and on top of my writing skills yet but anyway... progress is progress ^^</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They had barely managed to finish the dinner which they had cooked together when Cristiano’s phone had rung and had interrupted them in their conversation. It had been the mother of Junior’s friend, who had called to inform Cristiano that Junior had cried and had wanted his Pai to come and take him home again. It hadn’t really come as a surprise to neither Cristiano not Leo. The children had all gotten ready to go to sleep when Cristiano’s five-year-old son had apparently changed his mind and Leo’s heart had soared when he had wondered whether it had happened because he would usually read Junior a bedtime story around that time. He had shaken his head at his own thinking, however, and had taken a restorative sip from his lemon water.</p><p>“Could you tell him that I’ll be there in fifteen minutes?” Cristiano had moved a hand over his face and had muttered something in Portuguese under his breath, “Great! Thank you, Catalina.” He had sighed after he had ended the call, putting his phone down onto the table beside his plate to run both of his hands over his face with another, drawled-out sigh, “Damn it, I already thought that this would happen.”</p><p>Leo had turned his gaze towards Cristiano, but had stayed quiet as he had sensed that the other would talk again before he would have the chance to.</p><p>“Junior’s way too young to stay away for an entire day... But you know how happy he was when Lorenzo invited him to his birthday party so I really didn’t want to be the one to try and talk him out of it.” Cristiano had talked as if he had felt the need to justify his son as well as himself to Leo, “He only ever stayed with my Mãe when he couldn’t stay with me... I knew it, I should’ve picked him up earlier.” The Portuguese had stood from where he had been sitting opposite of Leo at the kitchen table and had offered the younger man an almost abashed, but undeniably apologetic smile, “I’m really sorry about this, Leo. I thought that we’d have the evening to ourselves.”</p><p>Leo had responded by making a waving gesture with his hand and had tilted his head a bit as he had smiled at Cristiano over the rim of the glass that he had still been holding to his mouth, utterly oblivious to how the crease between Cristiano’s eyebrows had deepened before it had disappeared. He couldn’t have known that Cristiano had been seriously worried that he had secretly been mad or dissapointed that Junior wouldn’t stay away for the night, so as if Leo hadn’t formed a bond with Junior on the very first day that they had met and Leo had felt Cristiano’s on him when he had stood as well.</p><p>“Leo, I... I’m sorry.”</p><p>The frown that had formed on Leo’s face hadn’t laster for longer than a short moment before it had been replaced by a smile, which had widened when he had realised just why Cristiano hadn’t bolted for the door yet like Leo had known he would’ve liked to do. “You don’t have to apologise, Cristiano. It’s not your fault and I’m not mad,” he had said, letting out a quiet laugh. “Oh and we <em>did</em> have some time to ourselves, if Junior would’ve been here I probably wouldn’t have been able to cook with you because he would’ve wanted me to play with him.” Cristiano had smiled back at him and since Leo had been rather busy with putting the used dishes onto a stack in order to carry them over to the sink, he had missed how Cristiano had caught his bottom lip between his bottom lip and had kept it there for a second.</p><p>“Yeah,” the Portuguese had answered after a short pause and even though he had cleared his throat, his voice had not lost its rough edge, “yeah, you’re right.” He had huffed a laugh, “He would’ve claimed you all for himself like he always does it.” Leo had hummed and the last thing he had heard before Cristiano had closed the front door behind him had been a promise that he won’t take long.</p><p>~~~</p><p>The promise turned out to be true, it couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes after Cristiano had left the house that Leo perceived the sound of the front door being unlocked and he put his phone aside. He made his way to the kitchen door to peak into the entrance area - slowly so, as he didn’t want Cristiano to think that he had been eagerly awaiting his return and he didn’t really notice the smile that grew on his face while he watched how Cristiano kneeled on the floor to help his son out of his shoes. The five-year-old was wearing his favourite Spider-Man pyjamas under his jacket, Crisitano apparently hadn’t wanted to waste any more time by putting him back into his day clothes, and even from the distance Leo was able to see that Junior’s eyes were swollen and rimmed red, both from crying and the way that the boy was rubbing at them with balled-up fists.</p><p>“Tudo feito, meu amor. Não chore mais, okay?” Cristiano kissed his son’s forehead before he stood to set his shoes aside and Junior seized that opportunity to run over to where Leo was standing. He wrapped his arms around Leo’s middle and pressed his face against his stomach as if he wanted to hide from the world.</p><p>“Hey niño,” Leo said, his voice only barely raised above a whisper and he managed to loosen Junior’s arms from around his waist in order to crouch down and take the boy’s face into his hands. He brushed his tears away with gentle touches, “That wasn’t very good, was it?” Junior only shook his head. “Do you want to tell me what happened, niño?”</p><p>The five-year-old drew in a shaky breath and rubbed at his eyes again, “We-We were in his room and-and he said that-that his mama will tell us a scary story about the mo-onster that lives under his bed...”</p><p><em>That explained it.</em> Leo clicked his tongue and drew Cristiano’s son into another embrace, “And you don’t like scary stories, do you?”</p><p>“Nu-uh! Don’t like them, Leo.” He hugged Junior until the boy squirmed a bit and when he pulled his arms back, Junior almost immediately grabbed his hand, “Can I-Can I stay with you?”</p><p>Leo looked at Cristiano, who had just hung up his son’s as well as his own jacket. “It’s past your bedtime,” the Portuguese retorted but before Junior could’ve whined, he winked at his son, “but since it’s Friday I think that you can stay up for a bit longer if you want to, querido.”</p><p>“Would you like to help you Pai and me with the dishes, hm? I’ll read you a bedtime story after that, niño.”</p><p>Junior nodded, squeezed Leo’s hand and leaned against the Argentine, allowing himself to be lead into the kitchen with Cristiano trailing after them. Leo smiled at the giggle that he elicited from the young boy when he heaved him onto the counter top beside the sink. His smile didn’t falter when he felt Cristiano’s hand coming to rest in the small of his back, it didn’t linger there for long as Cristiano only touched him as he asked him to move aside so that he could take the dishtowels out of the drawer. He didn’t notice how Cristiano almost would’ve reached out to touch him again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know why I usually prefer to write fast burn... the slow burn is killing me 😭😂</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Hugs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't know why, but I've been in the mood for a Christmas-themed ficlet lately so I decided to bring it into this AU :-) Maybe it's because I'll be forced to spend the holidays without my family due to Corona, but this probably won't be my only Christmas-related story this year ^^</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Cristiano really hugged him was when Leo visited him and Junior a few days after Christmas. There had been some side hugs as greetings before, of course, which had all been initiated by the Portuguese, too, but it was only then that Leo thought he had the first chance to hug him back.</p><p>Cristiano had invited Leo to spend the holidays with Junior, him, and the rest of Cristiano’s family in Madrid but Leo hadn’t even allowed himself to think about saying yes and accepting the invitation. He had always known that his family was the most important thing for Cristiano long before they had agreed on a first name basis and had started to become something similar to close friends, as there had been no real way that Leo couldn’t have known about it with all of the interviews and articles that had been published. Leo he had thus felt like it would’ve been a terrible invasion if he would’ve indeed come after the invitation and would’ve flown to Madrid to spend Christmas with Cristiano and Junior when it had so obviously been the only time of the year during which Cristiano’s entire family would come together. He had thus turned the invitation down, even though the prospect of staying with Cristiano for the duration of the holidays had made his chest feel full, by claiming that Gerard and Sergio had invited him first and he had already accepted their invitation.</p><p>It had been nothing more than a white lie, and Leo had felt incredibly guilty when there had been no use in denying that Cristiano’s smile had faltered quite a lot as he had told him that he wouldn’t be able to make it. That Gerard and Sergio had invited him hadn’t been a lie, but that Leo had actually accepted their invitation had been it because when they had asked him whether he would’ve liked to stay with them in Seville, Leo had excused himself by stating that he had already accepted Cristiano’s invitation when he, in truth, simply hadn’t wanted to be a burden to either families. Not to Cristiano, who had told him all about how hard it had still been for him, even after all those years, that his duties with Real didn’t allow him to spend as much time with his siblings and extended family like he would’ve wanted to and neither to Gerard and Sergio, since it had been their very first Christmas they would spend as a married couple after their wedding in April.</p><p>So instead of spending the 24th of December in a merry round, Leo had stayed alone and at home in Barcelona. He had made himself his favourite dinner and his favourite dessert, dulche de leche brownies, had popped open a bottle of white wine and had made himself comfortable on the couch to watch the Harry Potter marathon which had been running on TV. It had been a hopeless endeavour from the start because he had been rather exhausted and his exhaustion, increased by the wine, had caused him to fall asleep halfway through the second movie.</p><p>When he had startled awake again, the TV had since turned itself off and Leo had found himself lying on the couch in his living room which had only been lit by the small, pretty much pathetic artificial Christmas tree he had put up next to the TV. <em>What a great Christmas</em>, he had thought and had slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, shocked when there had suddenly been a twin set of tears claiming their way down his face. Leo had hurried to wipe them away with a gasp and two rather rough motions of his hands. If he hadn’t felt lonely during 364 days of the year, it had always come crashing down on him during Christmas Eve ever since he had broken up with Antonella a couple of years ago and he had lost many of the ties with his family because they hadn’t been able understand as for why he hadn’t wanted to be with her anymore. That he easily could’ve accepted one of the invitations he had gotten, Leo had refused to think about.</p><p>All of them had their own lives, he had his own. They had their own families and he had himself, his pathetic Christmas tree and an empty bottle of wine.<em> Just great</em>.</p><p>Leo had sighed. It had taken him a few moments until he had gathered enough mental strength to stand up from the couch and he had sniffled a few times as he had made his way through his dark house which had been too big and too quiet in that moment. Brushing his teeth had been all he had done before he had crawled into bed, had buried his face in his pillow and had pulled the duvet around himself like a cocoon, wishing that he’d fall asleep sooner rather than later. He had just really wanted this day to be over with already. Leo couldn’t have lay there for longer than a couple of minutes before his phone had vibrated where he had set it aside onto the bedside table, however. Deciding to ignore it and check who had wanted something from him the next morning, the Argentine had rolled over onto his side so that he had been facing away but when his phone had vibrated half a dozen times in quick succession, he had moved over onto his back and had blindly grabbed it. His heart had somersaulted so strongly that he had felt it in his throat once he had realised that all of the messages had come from Cristiano.</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Hey Leo, I hope you’re not asleep yet and I also hope that you got all of the presents you wished for tonight, though you’ll only get Junior’s and my present when you’ll come to see us! 🎅🏼🎁]</p><p>The message had been followed by a few photos, all of which had made Leo smile a bit wider. There had been a selfie of Cristiano and Junior, both grinning into the camera; a couple of photos where Junior had been opening his presents, his eyes wide and shining with childlike joy; a snapshot of Junior nibbling on a cookie and the last photo had shown Junior fast asleep and tucked in his bed, the Santa hat still fixed on his head. All of them had made Leo hate himself for not having booked that flight to Madrid.</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [I would’ve loved it if you would’ve been here with us tonight (Junior would’ve loved it too, he asked a lot about where you are &amp; what you’re doing) ☺️ Next year I’ll make sure that I’ll be the one to invite you first haha 😉]</p><p>[And I really would’ve liked to be there with you], Leo had typed, and he had send his response before he could have stopped and consider about whether it had given away the fact that he had lied or not. His message had been read within a few seconds.</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [It’s a deal then, yeah?]</p><p>That he had definitely been blushing in the darkness of his bedroom, he never would have admitted to himself, [It’s a deal :-)]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Great! ☺️]</p><p>~~~</p><p>When he walked up the driveway to Cristiano’s house just two days later, Leo was more nervous than he had been in a long time and he wasn’t even able to say the decisive reason as for why his heart was beating as fast as it did. Visiting his former arch-rival and then friend had since stopped being anything unusual, considering that Leo had spend as good as every weekend with him and his five-year-old son for the past six months, and yet he clutched Junior’s present a bit closer to his chest when the door was being opened before he had even reached it. “Hi Leo!”</p><p>Instead of Cristiano, there was Junior standing in the door and Leo forced himself to smile despite the way that his stomach was clenching from time to time, “Hey niño.”</p><p>While Junior slammed the door shut rather than closing it with the handle, Leo sat his suitcase down and lowered into a squatting position to be at more of an eye level with the child but before he could’ve handed the present over to him, Junior gasped and ran off. “I’ll go and get your present!”, the five-year-old shouted as he was already out of sight and Leo let out an inaudible sigh. “Here! Pai helped me to wrap it but I found it!”, Junior said, his excitement visible on his face and Cristiano’s son giggled when Leo hugged him and murmured a thank you.</p><p>“I’ve got something for you too, niño.”</p><p>“You do?” The child’s eyes were almost as wide and shining as they had been in the photos Cristiano had send Leo, “Really?”</p><p>He nodded, “Of course. Here you go, niño. Merry Christmas.”</p><p>Junior threw himself against Leo after he took the present from the Argentine and Leo hugged him back, holding him until the five-year-old wriggled. Junior took Leo by the hand, “Pai’s in the kitchen, let’s go to him!” and didn’t wait for an answer before he begun to drag him along into the direction of said room, babbling about how excited he was that Leo was finally there because Leo would always play with him and all of Leo’s initial nervousness came back to wash over him when Cristiano turned around from where he was standing at the stove.</p><p>“The soup would’ve burned if I would’ve left it alone, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“That’s alright.” Leo mustered a small smile, “I wasn’t forced to wait by the front door for an hour.”</p><p>Cristiano’s gaze stayed on him for a moment longer and since Leo didn’t look at anything other than his finger, which was languidly following the edge of the kitchen table just so that he had something to focus on, he didn’t notice how Cristiano lowered the heat the soup was cooking with, “How was your Christmas?”</p><p>Unable to hide a flinch when the Portuguese was suddenly right there in front of him, Leo closed his eyes for a second and sighed before he opened them again. He lacked the courage to look up at the older man, however, “It was... okay.”</p><p>“I know that you didn’t go to Sevilla.” <em>Of course he knows</em>, it flashed through Leo’s mind. Cristiano and Sergio were best friends and only Leo could’ve been stupid enough to believe that his lie would go through. He swallows hard but before he could’ve replied with some stuttered answer, Cristiano went on, “You were alone the entire time? Oh Leo...”</p><p>“Christmas is family time,” he whispered, because the lump in his throat didn’t allow him to raise his voice any further, “and I’m not your family-” Leo’s breath hitched when he suddenly found himself wrapped in a pair of strong arms and pressed against an equally strong and warm chest.</p><p>Cristiano clicked his tongue and Leo brought his own arms up to hug the Portuguese around the waist without having really been aware of it. “I invited you because I always want you to be here,” Cristiano said, the tone of his voice a gentle one that made it impossible for Leo to not melt into the hug as he was hugged impossibly closer. One of Cristiano’s hands found their way into his hair, “Eu quero que você se torne minha família, mas não sei como te dizer.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Watching the other sleep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Aaaand we're halfway there! It won't take much longer until Cressi happens, I swear I'm so excited :-D </p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine - there might be a few more, as I wrote the majority of this while attending an online lecture ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cristiano hated nights like the one he was currently forced to live through. He had gone to bed more than two hours ago and even though he was exhausted and it was past two in the morning, he had been wide awake as soon as his head had touched his pillow. Instead of falling asleep like he had wanted to, Cristiano had ended up tossing and turning around before he had eventually given up and had sat up against the headboard with a resigned sigh.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, he was still sitting in the same position, absentmindedly gazing out of the window where heavy raindrops were pelting against the glass and created an atmosphere that usually would’ve been perfect for him to fall asleep to but Cristiano didn’t bother to lie back down. He should’ve known that he would have troubles going to sleep because with everything that was on his mind, it never really calmed down unless he’d be pushing himself to his limits in the gym. He was in love. There was no use in denying it to himself. He, Cristiano Ronaldo, has fallen head over heels in love with Leo Messi, who was currently fast asleep in the guest room at the end of the corridor and perfectly oblivious to the feelings Cristiano has been harbouring for him for... yes, for how long? He never could’ve answered that question, there just wasn’t a way for him to say when it all started.</p><p>He didn’t know when he had first caught himself smiling at his phone because a notification from Leo’s and his chat had popped up, when he had first allowed himself to think about all the what ifs and possibilities and when he had first caught himself getting excited whenever he would go to bed on Thursday because it had meant that Leo would be coming to Madrid the next day. To Madrid, to <em>him</em> and to Junior and that his five-year-old son had since adopted Leo as somewhat of a parent figure didn’t exactly make it any easier for Cristiano. How could he not thinking about them all becoming a family when it was Junior who, just the day before, had come back from preschool and had given him a picture he had drawn that had made it very hard for Cristiano to not just call Leo and confess his love for him right away. It showed the three of them playing football in the garden and to top it all of, the note, which the kindergarten teacher had added on Junior’s behalf, had read <em>My family: my Pai, my Leo and me! :-)</em> right above the scene. </p><p>Without thinking about it, he had framed the drawing and put it onto the bedside table as if it was an actual family portrait the same day.</p><p>Cristiano let out a weary sigh and leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling instead. He just wasn’t used to feel like this, to not be able to get what he so desperately wanted - he didn’t even know if opening up about his feelings wouldn’t just result in their friendship breaking apart if it would turn out that Leo wasn’t interested in him like that, and Cristiano didn’t have the heart to risk that either. He’d rather have Leo as a friend than not at all, even if it would break his heart in the long run. Cristiano sighed yet again and continued to stare at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. It was only when the rain got heavier that he remembered the window he had left open after he had showered earlier and he jumped off the bed with a string of curses escaping him, dashing out his bedroom. Unlike Leo, having a flood in his house really wasn’t what he wanted and Cristiano made sure to not accidentally wake up either Junior or Leo as he hurried to reach the bathroom.</p><p>To his relief, the tilted window hadn’t allowed much of the rain in yet. He grabbed the towel he had used on his hair and crouched down to wipe up the water from the tiles, his mind wandering off to the <em>someone</em> that was sleeping in the room next door. God, he was so in love, and what he would’ve given if he wouldn’t have to return to an empty bed. Cristiano balled the towel up, flung it into the laundry basket and left the bathroom. Knowing his son, he probably had four or five hours of sleep left before Junior would wake him up to ask him whether he could wake Leo. Before he could’ve realised what he was doing, however, he had already opened the door that lead to the guest room.</p><p>He froze, somewhat expecting Leo to catch him in the act and he waited a few seconds, his heart racing and his hand clutching the door handle, but the room stayed quiet except for the steady sound the rain that was still pouring down and against the windows. Cristiano drew in a breath to calm himself, slowly letting it out as he moved into the room. That what he was doing was an invasion of Leo’s privacy, he knew well enough but it was as if a spell had been casted and he <em>needed</em> to see him before he’d be able to go back to bed. Since Leo hadn’t pulled the curtains close, a bit of light found its way into the guest room and landed on the younger man, who was sprawled out on his stomach with his arms crossed underneath the pillow his head was resting on and Cristiano’s chest clenched at how small Leo looked in the middle of the king-sized bed. Having since come to stand at the foot of the bed, Cristiano moved until he stood beside Leo’s head. He didn’t dare to touch him, even though he yearned to do it, and instead only watched the sleeping man.</p><p>Leo’s face was perfectly relaxed, his lips parted and the longer strands of his hair had fallen onto his forehead and if it only would’ve been possible, Cristiano would’ve lay down beside him and gathered him in his arms simply because he had the inexplicable urge to protect him. Not from something specific, just in general. His breath hitched when Leo suddenly moved, but the younger man only sighed and rolls over onto his side before he settled again, making it impossible for Cristiano to not reach out and put his hand atop Leo’s head. He kept it there for a few moments, moving his fingers through the younger man’s hair before he pulled his hand back.</p><p>The smile that grew on his face was rather melancholic, there wouldn’t have been a use in denying that he was desperate to find out whether his love was unrequited or not, whether any of his daydreams had a chance of becoming real or whether he should just bury them all in order to not lose <em>his friend</em> and when Cristiano crawled back into his own bed a few minutes later, he knew that there wasn’t any other way than for him to risk it all. Not knowing wasn’t something he could’ve lived with for much longer.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Family visits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ehhh somehow I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out (it just seemed nicer in my mind, like it does so often xD) but oh well, it's the best I could've done with this prompt without it turning into a fully-grown story instead of the ficlet it's supposed to be ^^</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Avó! Pai, Avó’s here! I’ll go and open the door, I’ll go!”</p><p>Leo just began to rinse the dishes he had needed to make Junior the dulce de leche pancakes he had promised the five-year-old as a dessert when he suddenly heard Cristiano’s son shouting from upstairs and before Leo even had time to process what was happening, the boy already came rushing downstairs, ignoring his father’s admonishing words to not run down the stairs because he’d only end up hurting himself one day. “What...”</p><p>Cristiano let out what Leo thought was an apologetic sound, standing up from where he had been sitting at the kitchen table and nipping from a protein shake. The Portuguese clicked his tongue, “I’m sorry,” he said, and the look of regret on his face was a honest one, “I forgot to tell you that my Mãe would be coming to visit us today. I’m really sorry, Leo.” Within the course of a second the younger man’s entire face burned up and he quickly looked back down at the dishes in the sink, cursing himself in his mind for not being able to stop himself from becoming flustered. He tried not to listen to the noises that were coming from the direction of the entrance area, though Junior’s giggles were so loud that Leo hardly could’ve ignored it and he cursed again, under his breath that time, when he accidentally dropped the sponge. Cristiano had bend down to pick it back up while Leo was still looking into the sink, trying to get the throbbing in his cheeks under control, “Are you okay with it?”</p><p>“What?” That his voice had come out rather squeaky only caused Leo’s blush to turn another shade darker, “I... What do you mean?”</p><p>The older man tilted his head, barely noticeably, and for the split of a second, Leo was sure that Cristiano had reached out to cup his face but had pulled his hands back before he couldve touched him as if he had changed his mind, “I can tell her to leave-”</p><p>“No,” Leo cut him off, giving his head a shake, “no, you can’t. She’s your mother-”</p><p>“And this is our weekend,” Cristiano interrupted him in return and the Argentine’s heart somersaulted at that.</p><p><em>Our weekend</em>. Had Cristiano just spoken to him like Gerard and Sergio had used to do it before they had taken their relationship to a more serious level or was Leo reading too much into it? He turned his gaze away yet again, suddenly feeling more than just a bit embarrassed about how overly dramatic his initial reaction had been but even though he had been forced to do it for decades, meeting new people still made Leo anxious. His social anxiety never bothered to give him a rest.</p><p>Taking another step into the younger man’s place, Cristiano put a hand into the small of his back and the way he moved his hand up the curve of his spine left an inexpicable tingle behind. “Hey, it’ll be fine,” Cristiano said, the tone of his voice smiliar to the one that was usually reserved for his five-year-old son and he guided his hand even further up until it was splayed between Leo’s shoulder blades. “I promise, it’s just my Mãe.” He didn’t bother to pull his hand away that time when Dolores and Junior entered the kitchen, instead using the hold to gently encourage Leo to turn around and face them. The hand doesn’t disappear even after Leo had indeed turned around but instead of staying splayed between his shoulder blades, it moved until it provided a reassuring weight in the small of his back again and Leo leaned back against it without really noticing what he was doing, trying not to think about why it suddenly felt so right to be in close proximity to Cristiano.</p><p>“Leo,” Cristiano’s mother greeted him, her smile a lot more honest and kind than Leo expected it to be, “Cris and Junior told me so much about you! It’s good that I finally get to meet you, because Zurich doesn’t count, does it? I know how different you footballers are when you’re in public.”</p><p>A bit overwhelmed by the torrent of words, Leo merely nodded and accepted the hand Dolores was offered to him, “I... well, I’m happy too but if I would’ve known that you’d be coming, Señora, I-”</p><p>If it would’ve been possible, he would’ve taken a step back when both Cristiano and Dolores laughed, but the Portuguese’s hand in the small of his back kept him in place, “None of this, docinho. You’re a friend of my son, I am Dolores for you.” Leo gave another nod, though before he could’ve come up with an answer Junior peaked out from behind his grandmother.</p><p>“Leo? Can we go and play now? <em>Pleeease</em>,” he said, begging as if Leo hadn’t ever given in to any of his wishes, “can you play with me now? I already got all the Lego out!”</p><p>The Argentine cleared his throat, “Give me a moment, okay niño? I’ll be right there.” Instead of answering, the five-year-old turned around and ran off, probably to his room upstairs, and all Leo did before he set out to follow him was directing a small and rather lopsided smile at Dolores.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Cristiano watched Leo until the younger man disappeared out of sigh and it wasn’t after he had made out Junior’s excited squeal from the upper floor that he exhaled sharply, closed his eyes and leaned against the countertop behind him, hanging his head as if in defeat.</p><p>“He still doesn’t know, does he?”</p><p>He kept his eyes closed for a moment longer before he looked at his mother again, shaking his head in negation. “No,” Cristiano confessed, “I don’t know how to tell him. I’ve tried to think of something but... nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s like my brain stops working whenever I think about him.” The smile that showed on Dolores’ face was a knowing one but as she was able to sense that her son wasn’t quite done with talking, she merely cupped a hand against Cristiano’s cheek. “If I tell him and he doesn’t... love me back, our friendship would be over and I couldn’t even blame him for it, Mãe.” Cristiano’s eyes dropped close and he tilted his head to lean his cheek into his mother’s touch, not trying to hide that he needed her comfort in the predicament he was in, “I don’t know what to do.” His voice dropped to a whisper, “I just don’t know. God, I’m so pathetic.”</p><p>Dolores caressed her son’s cheek in silence for a moment, bringing her free hand to the other side of Cristiano’s face so that she was holding it more properly. Out of all the people, it was her who knew that his poised and self-confident appearance was nothing more than a façade most of the time, “I’m sure that it’ll be alright.”</p><p>“I don’t know, Mãe.”</p><p>The way he was still whispering caused Dolores’ smile to widen, “Trust me with this one, meu amor. Talk to him, he deserves to know how you’re feeling about him and you deserve to know where you’re supposed to go.” That there were tears in her youngest child’s eyes didn’t surprise her at all. She was able to empathise with him, it wasn’t as if her relationship and marriage with José had gone by without any ups and downs, “You two have grown so close, querido. You’re talking as if you’re still stuck in that ridiculous rivalry with him, as if Junior didn’t already form such a special bond with Leo and spend the entire holidays asking about when he’ll see him again. You already <em>are </em>a family, meu amor, even if you two didn’t talk about it yet. He comes to visit you and Junior <em>every </em>weekend, he spends so much time with you even though I’m certain that there are more than enough duties for him in Barcelona which means that <em>you</em> are most definitely something special to him, too. This isn’t a one-sided thing, as far as I can tell it’s never been one to begin with.”</p><p>Cristiano blindly reached around to tear a paper towel off the roll that stood beside the sink, not folding it before he used it to wipe at his eyes. To hear his mother speak out what he has been so desperately wishing for - for Junior <em>and </em>Leo to be his family - made him wish that words simply wouldn’t have been necessary, “I know that I have to do it at one point, if not for me then for Junior... But like you said, he’s so attached to him and if Leo leaves to never come back...”</p><p>Suppressing a sigh, Dolores tilted her son’s head so that he was forced to look down at her, “If that should be the case, which I doubt it will, we’ll still find a way to get you and Junior through it, okay? But allow yourself to have a bit of hope, meu amor. Don’t break your mind over something that didn’t even happen yet.”</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Trying something new (1/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My goal for December is to finish this story (because I can't focus on two stories at once and Perfect Paradise is <em>a lot</em>) but I don't want to promise anything as life's a mess right now :-D</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine - I finished this at 2 AM, so please bear with me if there are more mistakes than usual ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’re here!” Leo barely managed to set his suitcase and rucksack down a second earlier before he found himself hugged around the waist by Junior, who had come running from the living room to open the door for him, and he hugged Cristiano’s son back, moving a gentle hand through the boy’s head of wild curls, “I waited <em>sooo</em> <em>looong</em>, Leo!”</p><p>Even though Junior had always been very excited to see him, just like Leo had always been excited as well, the five-year-old was practically over the moon that Friday afternoon and the smile which grew on Leo’s face was a knowing one. It had been just the day earlier that they all had decided to have another movie night together, and even though Cristiano had been the one who had asked him, Leo had already known back then that Junior must’ve begged his father to ask him. Junior kept his arms firmly wrapped around Leo’s middle before he was ready to let go of the Argentine and set out to run back to the living room, but the boy’s eyes widened almost comically wide when Leo called out his name and beckoned him over. “I brought something for you, niño,” Leo said with a stage whisper, picking his rucksack back up to open it and pull a Tupperware box out. “Come here, it’s for you.” He held the box out for Junior to take it, “I hope that you still like them, niño.”</p><p>The five-year-old struggled a bit, but he eventually managed to open the box with one hand and he nodded hard enough to send his curls bouncing, “Yes! I like them, I like them,” Junior babbled, his eyes were wide and fixed on the dulce de leche brownies Leo had baked for him last night.</p><p>“They’re for later when we watch the movies, okay? Don’t eat them all now, wait for your Pai and me.”</p><p>Cristiano’s son nodded once more, allowing Leo to help him with closing the box. “I won’t. I promise!” was all Junior said before he scampered off again, the box of brownies securely held under one arm.</p><p>“Niño, where’s your Pai?” Leo called after him but the only thing he heard in response were giggles coming from the living room and he drove both of his hands through his hair with a drawled-out sigh, allowing himself to close his eyes for a moment, then that he had it for himself.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’m here. Did you miss me so much?” He only so stopped himself from whirling around when he heard Cristiano’s voice from behind him and he turned around just in time to see him coming down the stairs, feeling himself blush at the familiar smirk he spotted on the Portuguese’s face. “Really? It’s only been a week, Leo.” To show that he wasn’t being all that serious, Cristiano winked and yet Leo’s heart showed no signs of calming down. It might’ve been just a week, but he had been counting down the days until he would be due to board his flight to Madrid. Not that Cristiano needed to know about it, Leo couldn’t have blamed him for frowning at him because of it. “But I missed you too, in case you didn’t already know that.”</p><p>He was glad that Cristiano only said that a second before pulled him into a hug, because what the older man said caused his face to lit up for good and he was almost a bit dazed as he hugged Cristiano back, resisting the temptation of nestling against the older man’s chest like he had the urge to. That their hug lasted what could’ve been twice as long as it had the last time that they had hugged each other didn’t bother either of them, and Cristiano’s smile had since turned into a warm smile by the time they parted. Leo tried not to lean back against the hand that found his way from between his shoulders to the small of his back.</p><p>“How was your week?”</p><p>“Not as bad as it could’ve been, but I’m glad that I’m finally here again.” The words slipped out before Leo could’ve thought about whether he should voice them out or not and while it made him swallow hard, he didn’t actually try to row back. It would’ve been a lie if he would’ve nullified what he had said. Leo loved the weekends he got to spend in Madrid. He loved him, even if he didn’t allow his mind to wander off into that direction. He was so in love with him.</p><p>“I’m glad that you’re here, too,” Cristiano said after he had roamed his eyes over Leo’s face as if he had been looking for the answer of a question he hadn’t asked. The Portuguese huffed a laugh, “Junior’s too, all he’s been talking about since I picked him up from school was you and what movies he wants us to watch.”</p><p>With the comfortable weight of Cristiano’s hand in the small of his back, it wasn’t hard for Leo to muster a smile, despite how much his heart was palpitating. “I made brownies for him,” he hesitated, “I hope you don’t mind it.”</p><p>Cristiano snorted, but it didn’t come over disdainful as his smile never actually falter, “You know that I don’t. He’s a child and I know that the DailyMail is ready to pounce on it and report me to CPS but I never thought about forcing my diet onto my son.”</p><p>“I never believed what they wrote,” Leo remarked, maybe a tad bit too quickly, “I never thought that you’re a bad father, Cristiano.”</p><p>“You didn’t?” Cristiano sounded honestly surprised and after the younger man shook his head, the two of them grew quiet and despite the fact that Cristiano never stopped smiling and the hand on his back didn’t disappear, Leo still didn’t back away from the edge he was on.</p><p>“I’ll... go and get changed,” he said after having cleared his voice, “I don’t want Junior to think that we forgot about him,” and he was sure that Cristiano walked a few steps with him because he felt the weight of Cristiano’s hand in the small of his back until he reached the bottom of the staircase.</p><p>~~~</p><p>It had taken Leo less than three minutes to bring his bags upstairs and put on a set of more comfortable clothes, exchanging his jeans and shirt for a pair of sweatpants and the oversized CR7 hoodie Cristiano had given him a couple of weeks ago, but ten minutes later he was still sitting on the edge of the bed in the guest room, clutching his phone in his hands and waiting for Gerard to answer. To him, it seemed as if his best friend had been recording a voice message for an hour and Leo didn’t even try to stop himself from bouncing his knee. When Gerard’s message finally came, he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before he pressed play.</p><p>“Yeah, I know how you feel Leo. I really do, I mean you know that it took Ser and me like what, a year and a half to stop messing around and get serious and I really understand why you’re thinking what you’re thinking right now but,” Gerard sighed and Leo worried his bottom lip between his teeth, “it can’t go on like this either, can it? You’re <em>in love</em> with him, Leo, and you out of all the people that I know deserve to be with someone who makes you happy and Cristiano obviously already <em>does</em> make you happy, even though it pains me to say it.” He smiled at his best friend’s laughter, “And yeah there’s a chance that he doesn’t want you like you want him but Ser told me about how often he’s talking about you. Ney said that James told him that, too. Listen, let’s do it like this: you’ll try to talk to him - it doesn’t have to be today of course - and if he makes you cry, Ney and I will come and break Ronaldo’s ankles so that this year’s Ballon d’Or will be your consolation prize and he can rot on the bench where he deserves to be if he breaks your heart, okay?”</p><p>Shaking his head at Gerard’s antics, Leo stood from the bed and recorded a quick answer, he had already wasted enough time and he really wanted to join Cristiano and Junior downstairs instead of breaking his mind over what could be, “I’d appreciate if there <em>wouldn’t</em> be any broken ankles but thank you but... you’re right, I’ll need to talk to him at one point. Thank you, Geri. I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”</p><p>“Leeeooo!”</p><p>“Leo vai chegar a qualquer momento, meu amor. Acalme-se, eu não quero que você derrame seu suco.”</p><p>“I’m coming!” Leo called out when he was still on the stairs, “Do you know what movie you want to watch?” He entered living room, “I’m sorry that I took so long.”</p><p>While Junior was already all comfortable on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket wand with a tray in his lap that held a glass of juice and a few dulce de leche brownies, Cristiano was merely perched on the edge. The Portuguese immediately stood when Leo came into sight, “We’ll watch Tangled now, Pai said it’s okay!”</p><p>Cristiano handed the remote over to Leo, “I’ll be back in a moment,” and the younger man nodded, plopping down onto the couch beside Junior. The five-year-old let out a giggle and immediately leaned against Leo, wrapping his left arm around the Argentine’s right as he was scared that he might decide to leave him and Leo found himself smiling almost ridiculously wide when he pressed start and Junior squealed in childlike excitement. The boy didn’t even look away from the TV when Cristiano came back into sight, holding a bowl in each hand and Leo let out sound of surprise when he was suddenly found himself holding one of the bowls a moment later. Cristiano grinned at him, “Try it.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I want to know whether you like it or not. It’s just ice cream” Leo’s brows pulled together in confusion as he eyed the green ice cream and as Junior had since begun to nibble at a brownie, he thus had a hand free to pick up the spoon. Peppermint ice cream really wasn’t anything new to him - only that it wasn’t peppermint ice cream. Mindful that Junior was actually watching the movie that was running, Cristiano merely snorted when Leo failed to hide a scowl, “Come on, it’s not that bad.”</p><p>“Are you trying to poison me?” Even though the taste of kale was lacing his tongue and made him cringe, there wasn’t an ounce of anger in his voice, “It’s <em>that</em> bad. Jesus-”</p><p>“No it’s not.”</p><p>“It is,” Leo insisted, leaning over to take the glass of water Cristiano must’ve put out for him earlier, “I’m sorry, but it’s easily the worst thing I ever tasted, Cristiano. It’s that bad.” He held the bowl out for the Portuguese to take it, colour rising into his cheeks when Cristiano, instead of reaching out for the bowl, simply watched him in a way that was anything but inconspicuous and so different to how he had looked at him the past seven months. It made his breath hitch and he found himself unable to look away, not wanting to look at anything other than Cristiano as he blindly put the bowl aside onto the coffee table. <em>He was in love. He loved him. He was in love with Cristiano, head over heals and hopelessly</em>. Leo opened his mouth, not knowing what it was that he wanted to say and in hindsight, he would say that he saw it coming but in the actual moment that it happened, he never did. Suddenly there were hands cupping his face,<em> Cristiano’s hands</em>, which were tilting his head back and pair of lips was pressed against his, causing his world to come to a halt.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Kisses (2/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A bit of a shorter chapter again (which happened to be embarrassingly hard for me to write for no reason???), because the last chapter usually would've been too long for a ficlet ^^ </p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the first few seconds that he felt Cristiano’s mouth on his, Leo’s body was rigid and he didn’t react at all, something that he wouldn’t have done even if he would’ve been able to because he halfheartedly expected, or rather feared that Cristiano would push him away, say that kissing him was a mistake and ask him to leave his house. His eyes were still opened as wide as they had been before Cristiano had set out to do what Leo never would’ve expected him to do, but none of his fears came through.</p><p>He only snapped out of it when Cristiano kissed him with a bit more vigour, so as if he was able to read Leo’s mind like an open book and wanted to show him that this moment between them wouldn’t come to an end any time soon; it was then that Leo’s eyes fluttered close, his lips adjusted to the movements of Cristiano’s and he allowed the other to keep the upper hand as he went pliant so that Cristiano was able to pull him closer and deepen the kiss even further. In a stark contrast to Leo’s mind, his heart was racing, beating against his rips like a jackhammer and if he wouldn’t have been sitting on the couch, he was sure that his legs would’ve given out underneath him because there he was, being kissed by Cristiano after he had spend months trying to convince himself that he was the biggest idiot in all of Spain for being in love with his former arch-rival and then close friend.</p><p>Leo felt Cristiano smiling against his lips as the Portuguese brushes his thumbs over his cheeksbones and if the touches wouldn’t have left a tingle behind, if they wouldn’t have felt so real, Leo wouldn’t have been so sure that he wasn’t dreaming all of it. They both gasped when they broke apart, just enough for them to breathe and Leo’s looked up at Cristiano through his eyelashes, lacking the courage to be as bold about it as he would’ve liked to be. Neither of them said anything - Leo because his mind failed to form a single sense-making sentence, and Cristiano because he seemed content with the situation as it was, going from looking at Leo’s lips to meeting his gaze before dropping his eyes to the younger man’s lips yet as if he wasn’t sure where to keep his eyes fixed upon, where he ought to look first.</p><p>When Cristiano lowered his head that time, Leo closed his eyes and parted his lips, bringing his arms up to drape them over the Portuguese’s shoulders. He ended up wrapping them around Cristiano’s neck with a gasp instead, however, as Cristiano scooted back and pulled him along until he was straddling him.</p><p>That Junior was babbling about the movie which Cristiano and him were supposed to watch as well, Leo barely perceived. It didn’t come as a surprise that it was the older man who spoke first.</p><p>“I wanted to do this for a while.” Cristiano’s whispered words made Leo want to cry, simply because he was so relieved and more than a bit overwhelmed by the turn of events and what it meant for them. Not wanting Cristiano to see that he was steadily tearing up, he quickly tucked his head in the crook between Cristiano’s neck and shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut. Cristiano moved his hands from Leo’s waist to his trembling back, stroking it, “It’s okay, I understand that it’s a bit much,” and when Leo thought to have heard Cristiano’s voice tremble, he sat back up to look at him, despite the tears that had left tell-tale trails on his cheeks. “É muito pra mim também, pensei que você não... me quisesse assim, Leo.”</p><p>Leo suddenly couldn’t have cared less about the tears that were still burning in his eyes or the way that his hands were shaking when he cups them against Cristiano’s face for the first time, because there were tears in the older man’s eyes as well and while he had seen him cry on a dozen occasions before, it had only ever been on the pitch and it definitely hadn’t been tears of the same nature. They had been tears of loss, of embarrassment and shame, tears that Leo vehemently refused to let the public see but then that he was sitting astride Cristiano’s lap and holding his face in his hands, his tears were just as fuelled by relief as Leo’s were. The smile gave him away. “I love you.”</p><p>It was easy for Leo to confess it, in fact it would’ve been a lot harder for him not to voice it out and he knew that he made the right decision when Cristiano’s smile grew impossibly wider,“You really do?” He nodded and one of the hands that had been stroking his back came to rest in the back of his neck, using it’s hold to pull him into another kiss. “I love you too,” Cristiano said with a small laugh. To Leo’s ears, the hint of disbelief couldn’t have been missed, “I was so scared that-”</p><p>“And I love <em>youuuu</em>!” The two adults barely had time to realise that their moment had been cut to an end before Junior squeezed into the small gap between them and held onto both of their shirts, giggling in childlike obliviousness about what he was interrupting and how Cristiano quickly stole another kiss from Leo, “Can I have some more brownies, please? And juice?”</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Holding hands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Aaaand just when I thought that things had taken a turn for the better, life came around and now it's all going downhill again - gotta love 2020 :-D</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If there had been one thing about his relationship with Cristiano that had surprised, and maybe even overwhelmed him at first, it had been the way that the Portuguese hadn’t acted as if he ever had any aspirations of keeping their relationship hidden away, that he, as opposed to Leo himself, apparently hadn’t wasted the split of a second thinking about making their relationship look like a simple friendship outside of the privacy of their homes and the close circle of the friends they had initiated into the secret that they had since gone from friends to lovers.</p><p>Even though they had never really sat down and spoke about it and he thus hadn’t known what Cristiano’s stand had been, Leo had already forced himself to come to terms with how careful he would need to be for the indefinite future. It might not have been what he had wanted or wished for their relationship to be like, but he had told himself that it would be the only way that Cristiano and him actually could’ve stayed together and so the younger man had taken everything into consideration - that he would need to think twice before he would talk to journalists or those who weren’t necessarily considered to be Cristiano’s or his closest friends, that he would need to pay even more attention to what he would let his millions of Instagram followers see and that he had, in his eyes, been obliged to watch his every step whenever he would spend his weekends in Madrid.</p><p>So while Leo had minded all of those circumstances almost so much that it had caused his anxiety to skyrocket whenever he had thought to have spotted a paparazzi, Cristiano had taken the first step and had gone all out without any prior warning as as unexpected as it only could’ve come for Leo. When Leo’s phone had blown up on a Monday evening, he had only barely kept himself from panicking. It was too much, he had though in regards to the walk he had been on with Cristiano and Junior before he had flown back to Barcelona the day before, it was too much and now they all know. Leo’s stomach had clenched quite harshly and it had taken him a good long moment to gather the courage he had needed to actually unlock his phone, but when he had done so and had opened the Instagram and had seen what it had been that had caused the turmoil, he had been seconds away from bursting into tears even though there had been a smile on his face at the same time.</p><p>The entire thing had just been so Cristiano, for him to leave a simple comment of “🥰❤️” under the photo that Leo had posted of the day’s training session and in the fifteen minutes that had passed since Cristiano had commented, there had already been tens of thousands of people who had liked and replied to it. Leo hadn’t even attempted to catch up with all of the comments, had instead only liked Cristiano’s comment, had left a “❤️” and had closed Instagram again to FaceTime his boyfriend.</p><p>“Olá bebê-”</p><p>“You idiot,” Leo had choked out and despite the fact that there had been tears in his eyes, he had still been smiling, “you could’ve at least warned me or something.”</p><p>The Portuguese’s confused expression hadn’t lasted for longer than a moment and the smile which had grown on his face had been blinding. “What, do I now need a permission to comment my boyfriend’s pictures? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that.” Cristiano had faked a bow, “I’m so very sorry.”</p><p>Leo had snorted, shaking his head as he had wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. “You know what I mean,” he had answered and albeit he had tried to hide it, a hint of hesitation had been his low voice. The way that Cristiano’s eyes had softened had told Leo that his boyfriend had understand what he had tried to say without having to address it explicitly.</p><p>“I want them all to know.” Blushing and suddenly feeling rather stupid for merely having assumed all of it, Leo had averted his gaze, “Bebê if you’ll allow me to do it I promise that I’ll kiss you right there in Camp Nou after the Clásico. I mean it.”</p><p>“Cris-”</p><p>“Or do you not want me to do it.” Cristiano had seemed to have lost all of his glee from one second to another and Leo’s heart had ached quite a bit at the look of uncertainty that Cristiano’s grin had been replaced by, “If you don’t, I-”</p><p>“Nonono it’s not that I don’t want it,” Leo had hurried to say, interrupting the Portuguese, “it’s just... I thought that you don’t want me to be so... public about it.”</p><p>Cristiano had huffed a laugh, “Leo, bebê, why on earth would I want to keep what we have hidden away, hm? I’m so proud of our relationship, of you and I couldn’t give a damn about what anyone has to say about that, okay?” The younger man had nodded, feeling his heart somersault. “Se eles tiverem algum problema, vou garantir que não chegue até você.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>Things turned out to be a lot different after that. Not that Leo had really expected anything else to happen, of course. Them outing themselves as well as their relationship out of the blue, for the broad public at least, and over Instagram at that, had caused a turmoil that was still surrounding Leo when he set out to visit Cristiano and Junior again on the following Friday. He didn’t know whether it was merely a feeling or if it was the truth, but he was sure that there were even more paparazzi lurking around in the arrival hall of Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport than usual. To save himself at least an ounce of privacy, Leo had the hood of his hoodie pulled far into his face and even though it was well past nine on a February evening and accordingly dark, he kept the pair of sunglasses on. The music he had already put on in the plane was so loud that it hurt his ears, but at least it spared him of having to listen to the paparazzi shouting at him to look this way or that.</p><p>There were people - like Neymar - who loved to be greeted by a wall of flashing lights, but Leo would probably never grow to like or even tolerate it and while he managed to keep his façade in front of the paparazzi, it slipped a bit when he spotted the familiar person standing by the same exit Leo had always used before. Cristiano and him had usually only met in Cristiano’s car, to which Leo had always hurried to, sometimes even so quickly that he had managed to escape the paparazzi, and he really should’ve known that Cristiano wouldn’t be up for them hiding away then that it wasn’t necessary any longer. He couldn’t have fought against the blush that was coming up when the two of them walked towards each other, the smile that was growing on Cristiano’s face just reminded him of how much he loved him.</p><p>Cristiano wasted no time to pull him into a hug that would’ve made it impossible for Leo to not melt into, and he brought his own arms up to wrap them around Cristiano in return. “Hey bebê,” the older man whispered, taking it onto himself to pull the hood down in order to be able to nuzzle Leo’s hair. He kept his face there as they just held each other, enjoying the moment as if the cameras around them were nonexistent and Leo complied when Cristiano reached around and took one of his hands, lacing their fingers together.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. A heated argument (1/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I almost would've switched this prompt out for another because it's not as light-hearted as the others... but then again, some of you know how much I enjoy a bit of occasional angst... It'll all have a happy ending tho! :-D</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There weren’t many too actions that Cristiano had done and ended up regretting, but if there was one thing he regretted for a very long time, it was the way that he had failed to get his anger and frustration under control when Real had ended up losing 1-5 to Barça in March. Even though he had always hated having to deal with a defeat, like any responsible footballer would, in such an important game at that, too, it hadn’t been an acceptable excuse but when Sergio, him and the rest of their team had trudged into the changing room, all that had been on Cristiano’s mind had been the humiliation of having lost so high at Camp Nou and the displeasure over the way that Leo and Neymar had been all over each other whenever either of them had scored a goal - which had happened all the time.</p><p>In Cristiano’s eyes, it had made the loss, the sheer humiliation and provocation, even worse because he had been forced to stand there and watch how Leo had happily jumped into another man’s arms and how Leo had allowed another man’s hands to be all on him and whenever he would think about it later, he would feel the strong urge to go back in time and slap some sense into himself. Not only because it had been Neymar, who, at that time, had only been weeks away from proposing to James, but because he had doubted Leo’s loyalty towards him.</p><p>He just hadn’t been thinking straight and definitely not past the 1-5 loss, not even attempting to join the sober conversation which had since formed between his friends and teammates. Cristiano had merely torn his shin guards off with a grunt, had chucked them into the locker and had slammed the door shut with far more strength than would’ve been necessary before he had plopped back down onto his seat on the bench. Letting out an exaggerated sigh, he had moved both of his hands through his sweaty curls in a repetative motion in an attempt to get a grip on his overwhelming frustration.</p><p>Cristiano had continued to sit there with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands while everyone around him had undressed rather hastily in order to get into the showers as quickly as possible, simply staring at a random spot on the opposite wall for God had known how long, but when he had managed to snap back into the there and then, Sergio and him had been the only ones who yet had to leave the changing room.</p><p>The Spaniard had sat down beside Cristiano and had patted his back a couple of times before he had leaned back against the wall with a sigh and had begun to play with the wedding ring on his left ring finger. Cristiano had known that Sergio had understood just how he had felt, both as his captain and his best friend. “Come on, at least you’ll be able to spend a few days with Leo. You can’t tell me that’s something,” Sergio had said in an attempt to lift Cristiano’s spirits, but the Portuguese had merely snorted humourlessly in response and neither of them had said another thing until Cristiano’s phone had rung where it had still been tucked away in his gym bag, persuading Cristiano to pull it out from underneath the bench.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>Leo’s voice had been as soft and gentle as it had always been, so as if nothing had happened, and Cristiano had clenched his jaw. If his frustration and self-hatred wouldn’t have been so overpowering, he could’ve relaxed at the sound of the younger man’s voice alone. “What do you want,” he had greeted his boyfriend none too kindly, something that he hadn’t ever done before and wouldn’t ever do after that day.</p><p>“I-I just wanted to ask where you are, Cristiano...”</p><p>Sergio had turned his head to look at him, but Cristiano hadn’t paid attention to the Spaniard. He had been to stuck on the noise that had been going on in the background and the fact that he had been able to make out Neymar’s laugh loud and clear. It had made his blood boil and turned off the bit of his brain that had still been thinking at least somewhat rational. “What does it matter where I am when Neymar’s right there with you? You two seemed very close today.” From beside him, Sergio had let out a disbelieving sound. Cristiano’s frustration had only spiked even more when Leo had stayed quiet on the other end of the line. In hindsight, his heart would ache whenever he would think about how bad Leo must’ve felt in that moment. “What? You don’t have anything to say now, hm? Am I right then?”</p><p>“Ney and I? What-”</p><p>“Yes,” he had sneered, successfully cutting Leo off. “You and <em>Ney</em>.” His voice had been loud enough for it to resound through the otherwise empty room and Sergio had shaken his head, something Cristiano had only vaguely perceived, “You know what? Maybe we <em>should</em> start to use condoms, just to be safe. I really don’t want to catch anything that you might be getting from him.”</p><p>There had been a few moments of silence before Leo had ended the call, rather abruptly so, and Cristiano had snorted as humourlessly as he had done earlier, locking his phone and dropping it back into his gym bag. It had only been after that the he had heaved himself up from the bench. “You’re such a fucking idiot,” Sergio had snapped just when Cristiano had stood. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? Did you lose your last few brain cells on the pitch or what? <em>Jesus Christ</em>.”</p><p>The Portuguese had turned around to look at his best friend in bewilderment, one of his eyebrows raised to his hairline, but the Spaniard had merely grabbed his own gym bag and had made his way towards the door, “Ser-”</p><p>“No, forget it. I won’t help you. You’re alone with this one,” Sergio had said without looking at Cristiano. His voice had been laced with sarcasm, “Good luck, <em>Ronaldo</em>. And for people to say that my anger issues are bad...” Cristiano had stared at the door that his best friend had disappeared behind for what could’ve been a minute before he had given himself a mental push and had begun to undress himself.</p><p>Later on, he couldn’t quite fathom just <em>how</em> stupid he had been, because he had really believed that Leo had still been waiting for him at their agreed meeting point and so the shock he had felt when there had been no sight of his boyfriend had been a honest one. Except for his rental car, the parking lot had been empty. There had been no sight of Leo. Cristiano’s heart had dropped into the pit of his stomach, he hadn’t considered that Leo hadn’t understood that it hadn’t been him who had said those things, but CR7 who had been forced to pocket a loss. Swallowing hard around the lump that had formed in his throat from one second to another, Cristiano had fumbled the car key out of the pocket of his jacket and had crossed the parking lot to get to the Mercedes.</p><p>His heart had been palpitating in a way that had made him physically sick, the worst possible scenarios already playing in front of his inner eyes. He had already seen himself having to explain Junior that Leo wouldn’t ever be coming to visit them again and it had only done its part to make him hate himself even more. A few hours ago Leo and him had been talking about what they could do in the next coupe of days, then that they would have them all to themselves as Junior had stayed with Dolores in Madrid, but when Cristiano had gotten into the driver’s seat, that conversation couldn’t have been any further away. Running a hand over his face, he had blindly dialled Leo’s number. He had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel as he waited for Leo to answer the call, but the younger man hadn’t picked up. When he had called his boyfriends again a second after the first call had ended, however, he had only reached his voicemail which had meant that Leo must’ve turned his phone off.</p><p>“Fuck,” Cristiano had muttered, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the headrest. The way that his hands had just let go of the steering wheel and had landed in his lap would’ve shown anyone just how despairing he had been in that moment. Leo and him had never argued when they had been friends, even as a couple there hadn’t been any disagreements that would’ve been worth mentioning and Cristiano had felt tears bulding up in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to think about the possibility of it having been their last conversation as a couple, of that having been the last thing he could tell Leo as his boyfriend. <em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>He hadn’t sobbed, but his breath had hitched when he had taken his phone from where he had thrown it onto the passenger’s seat. His futile hope that Leo might’ve been online since had been dashed. Without thinking about what he had been typing, he had send a series of text within the course of half a minute.</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [I’m sorry]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Leo I’m so sorry, I promise that I didn’t mean anything of what I said I was just so mad that we lost and...]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [I love you, please call me back]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Did you go home? I’m on my way now]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Give me twenty minutes and then we can talk, bebê]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [I love you]</p><p>The lump in his throat had grown even bigger when he had watched how his messages had send, but hadn’t been delivered, and he had continued to stare at the screen of his phone for what could’ve been a minute before he had realised that it had been in vain and had stashed it away to start the engine instead.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Making up (2/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I promise that it'll all be fine! Also this is by far the longest ficlet of this collection (definitely too long for a ficlet, which we'll just ignore), I had to make the boys happy again ^^</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had taken him even less than the twenty minutes he had stated he would need, though Cristiano had been sure that he had broken more than just one speed limit in an attempt to get to Leo’s house as quicky as he only could’ve done it. He had seriously contemplated to make a stop somewhere to buy flowers and maybe a few of Leo’s favourite pastries, but had ended up not even trying to find a place that would sell both at half past ten on a Thursday evening because he had wanted to reconcile with his boyfriend, not waste any more valuable time by driving around Barcelona in an attempt to find a fitting store, and had instead made a mental note to go and buy both of those things the next morning as a little surprise for Leo.</p><p>It had been a hope that had kept him going for the duration of the drive, the hope that he hadn’t ruined their relationship and that the two of them would be able to laugh about the entire situation one day, but Cristiano’s heart had dropped all over again when he had swerved the car onto the driveway of Leo’s house and had seen that all of the windows had been dark.</p><p>He had tried to keep his composure upright by telling himself that there had been a chance of Leo simply having gone to sleep rather than sit around and wait for him to come, not wanting to think about what it could mean if that wouldn’t be the case. Since Cristiano had assumed that his boyfriend had been asleep on the upper floor, he had tried to be as quiet as he could’ve been in order to not wake him up when he had unlocked the front door with the key that Leo had given him earlier and had entered the house, closing the door behind him just as quietly as he had opened it. He had, however, barely closed the front door before he had made the sobering discovery that Leo’s jacket had been missing and that Leo’s gym bag hadn’t been in its usual place next to the shoe rack. <em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>“Leo?” The way Cristiano had called out the younger man’s name had been too quiet for him to hear it if he would’ve been upstairs and even though it had since begun to dawn on him that Leo had been anywhere but home, he had called for him again when he had moved further into the completely dark house, “Leo?” Even though it had been a futile hope and he had been predestined to be disappointed, Cristiano had still made his way upstairs to check whether Leo hadn’t been in the bedroom after all only to end up feeling like he had been mere seconds away from bursting into tears when he had needed to face the fact that Leo had indeed not come home and he had been alone. <em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>Not wanting to stay upstairs and wonder whether he would ever get another chance to sleep in the king-sized bed with Leo in his arms again, he had turned on his heals and had almost hurried back downstairs, where he wound up in the kitchen. He had known that he had messed up.</p><p>With his phone in his hand, Cristiano had hauled himself onto one of the chairs that had stood by the kitchen table and he had been able to feel his heartbeat in his throat when he had seen that Leo hadn’t been online since he had last checked and just like his messages still hadn’t been delivered. This hadn’t been how he had wanted or expected their extended weekend together to go then that they had no longer been forced to act as if they had been nothing but friends whenever they had been in public. Cristiano had wanted them to take a walk on the beach, to visit Barcelona’s MNAC and let the nights end in one of the many restaurants Sergio had recommended to him. <em>And now you ruined it</em>, Cristiano had thought, <em>you idiot</em>.</p><p>He had ended up making himself a cup of tea - not because he had really been in the mood for one, but because it had offered him a chance to focus on something other than the possible end of his relationship with Leo for a couple of minutes, and had not moved from where he had been sitting at the kitchen table as he had watched the steam emanate from the hot beverage. Cristiano hadn’t looked away from where his gaze had been stuck, absentmindedly unlocking his phone to dial Leo’s number. He had slumped even further into his chair when he the only thing that had answered had been the voicemail and in hindsight, he had been sure that he had never quite felt this devastated. Pinching the bridge of his nose and bouncing a leg in an attempt to keep his composure upright, to which he had been holding on with the very last thread, Cristiano hadn’t thought twice before he had called Sergio instead. He had needed to talk to someone.</p><p>Sergio had answered the call, but had sighed at the other end of the line to show that he hadn’t been all that excited, “What do you want?”</p><p>Cristiano had swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. That he had messed up when it had come to both his boyfriend and his best friend had only pushed him closer to tears. “I-” he had needed to clear his throat, but his voice had continued to tremble, “Do you know where Leo is? I tried to call him but... I think he turned his phone off.” When the Spaniard had stayed quiet, Cristiano had to pinch the bridge of his nose hard enough for it to hurt, “Ser, please-”</p><p>“What do you think they’re doing after such a win, hm? They’re partying. In a club. Consuming ungodly amounts of alcohol,” Ser had said, talking as if he had been explaining something to a rather thick-headed child, “Geri’s with them, too. I have no idea when they’ll be back, but knowing them it probably won’t be before two or something.” The other man had huffed, “I don’t think that you’ll be able to talk to Leo when he comes home. <em>If</em> he comes home tonight.” What Sergio had said had only been the last push Cristiano had needed to fully break down into tears. He had done so with a sob, shielding his eyes as if there had been someone who could’ve seen him cry. “I’m sure that it’ll be okay,” Sergio had said after a few moments of silence had passed between them. He had no longer sounded as angry as before, so as if hearing his best friend cry had caused the anger he had harboured to dissolve, “Look at Geri and me, Cris. You know how often we fought, how often we broke up because we were acting like idiots... and he still agreed to marry me.”</p><p>Cristiano had only continued to cry and had wiped at his tears, which had been replaced within an instant.</p><p>“Look,” the man at the other end of the line had sighed and it had sounded as if he had sat down onto a couch, “I’m not gonna lie, what you said was <em>fucking</em> stupid and if Geri would’ve thrown that at my head before we got married, I wouldn’t have talked to him for a week or two because <em>damn</em>, Cristiano!”</p><p>“I know,” the Portuguese had muttered.</p><p>“You don’t actually think that he’s cheating on you, right? Because it’s <em>Leo Messi</em> we’re talking about here.”</p><p>Cristiano had let out another sob, “No, of course not. I was just so angry that we lost and...”</p><p>“That’s not an excuse,” Sergio had interjected, “trust me, I had to learn that the hard way.”</p><p>Cristiano had known that too, Sergio had told him all about the ultimatum Gerard had given him a while ago, long before the two of them had gotten engaged and, finally, married. “I know,” he had thus repeated, absentmindedly tracing the rim of the tea cup with his thumb.</p><p>“Do you want me to come over?”</p><p>“No. No, it’s fine. I’ll just... watch Netflix or something and wait for him to come home, I don’t know.” There had been a short pause, then, “I <em>need</em> him, Ser. Not just I need him, but Junior too. What am I supposed to tell him? That he won’t ever see Leo again because of something that I said to him?”</p><p>“You haven’t lost him.” The <em>yet</em> had been unsaid, but Cristiano had heard it loud and clear. “Call me if you need someone to talk to, yeah?” <em>If you need a place to stay for the night.</em> “I won’t go to bed before Geri will be home so... you can always call me.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Cristiano had said, his voice only raised enough for Sergio to hear him and by the time that the call between him and his best friend had ended, he had still been staring into space, his eyes burning and his face sticky with the tears he had shed. He had not wanted to think about how this could’ve meant the end of Leo’s and his relationship. Even though they had only been together for about three months, Cristiano hadn’t been able to imagine his life without Leo. How could he, considering that they had danced around each other for half a year, that Leo had become a member of his family even before they had become a couple and that Junior had fully accepted Leo as a second parent figure. </p><p>For how long he had continued to sit there at the kitchen table, Cristiano couldn’t have said, but the small of his back had been aching and his tea had since gone cold without him having taken a single sip from it. A quick look at his phone had told him that the younger man still hadn’t been online and he had contemplated to put it aside simply because he had known that he would only end up checking it every ten seconds, but he had slipped it back into the pocket of his hoodie instead when he had heaved himself back onto his feet. He had absolutely no idea what he had been supposed to do.</p><p>He had been dying to finally get to talk to Leo, to apologise to him and to explain that he hadn’t meant a single word of what he had thrown at his head during the unjustified rant he had gone on. Cristiano had eventually made his way into the living room, where he had collapsed onto the couch, had turned the TV on and had zapped through the channels until he had landed on a random wildlife documentary. He had tried to follow the narrator’s take on the hunting behaviour of sharks, but his mind had always wandered off to Leo, what his boyfriend had been doing in that moment, who he had been with and how he had been feeling. Through the tears that had been building up in his eyes, Cristiano had hardly been able to make out the TV.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Even though he hadn’t wanted to, he had ended up falling asleep at one point and had only startled awake when he had perceived how the front door had been unlocked. His neck had ached from the slumped position he had slept in, but Cristiano couldn’t have cared about it any less. Leo. He had tried to turn off the TV so quickly that it had almost resulted in him dropping the remote onto the floor, and his heart had gone right back to palpitating as he had crossed the living room to get to the vestibule, from where the sound of the front door being closed none too quietly had reached him. Cristiano had come to stand in the door that had connected the living room and the vestibule, swallowing hard as he watched Leo.</p><p>There had been no doubt that the younger man had been drunk. Not dead drunk, but definitely enough to have troubles with keeping his balance when he had kicked off his shoes, and it had taken Leo <em>three</em> tries to find the hook of the coat rack when he wanted to hang up his jacket. Cristiano’s heart ached. Maybe he would’ve been fine with that sight if he wouldn’t have been so painfully familiar with it, if it wouldn’t have reminded him of his father. Leo had been humming along to a tune that Cristiano hadn’t known, one that he must’ve heard in the club that he had been at, and the Portuguese had been a bit taken aback by how cheerful Leo had appeared. It had been in that same moment, however, that he had realised that it most definitely been due to the unknown amount of alcohol the other had consumed, and Cristiano had been a bit surprised by how good he had looked despite the fact that it had been the middle of the night.</p><p>Leo’s hair had been tousled, his cheeks had been flushed to a healthy shade of pink and he had matched a white t-shirt with a pair of almost sinfully tight jeans that had hugged all of his curves. Cristiano had felt a stab of jealousy when he had remembered that Leo had been in a club looking like that, and the awkward silence between them had only been disturbed by the snort the younger man had let out when he had walked past the Portuguese to get to the stairs, not quite staggering but definitely not as steady on his legs as he had been during the Clásico earlier, “You just gonna stand there and look stupid or what?”</p><p>Cristiano’s jaw had clenched and he had quickly out his hands into the pocket of his hoodie to hide the fact that they had been trembling, even though Leo had his back turned towards him as he had walked up the stairs, “Don’t tell me you drove home like this.”</p><p>The laugh that Leo had answered with had reminded Cristiano of the one he had heard when they had still been enemies, the one he hadn’t thought he’d ever have to hear again, “<em>No</em>, in fact I did <em>not</em>. Do you wanna know who called the taxi for me? <em>Ney</em>. Shocking right?”</p><p>“Leo, I-”</p><p>“Shut the fuck up, Cristiano!”</p><p>Even from the distance between them Cristiano had been able to see how Leo’s chest had been heaving rapidly and how his eyes had been shining with unshed tears. It had broken his heart. The younger man had been holding onto the railing as if it had been the only thing that had kept him upright and Cristiano had wished that he would’ve been able to hug him, “Leo...”</p><p>“What the fuck do you want to hear from me?!” Leo’s voice had resounded through the otherwise quiet house. The way it had broken at the end had made Cristiano feel like the worst person, there had been no use in trying to convince himself that he hadn’t been the reason as for why Leo had gotten so drunk in the first place, “That I made out with someone else? That I sucked Ney off in the bathroom? Or that <em>he</em> fucked me like <em>you</em> were allowed to do it?”</p><p>Cristiano had been unable to speak, the lump in his throat having grown so big that it had threatened to choke him. <em>That’s it</em>, he had thought, <em>that’s it, it’s over. You ruined it</em>. Tears had been making their way down Leo’s face by then and the younger man had shaken his head, not saying another word before as he had turned and had hasted up the stairs, almost tripping when one of his feet had gotten caught on a step. “Leo...” There had been a sob coming from upstairs, followed by the slam of a door and Cristiano had continued to stand there leaned agains the door frame for a moment longer, blinking back tears of his own, before he had followed Leo upstairs. He had needed to know whether he would have to call Sergio again. “Leo?” The bedroom door had still propped open with a door stop, but Cristiano had been sure that the door to the bathroom hadn’t been closed earlier and he had let out a small sigh, not quite knowing what he had been supposed to do.</p><p>After a good minute or so of having stood frozen to the spot, he had moved into the bedroom and had sat down on the side of his bed that had since established itself as his just so that he wouldn’t be lurking around in the corridor. Cristiano had sat on the king-sized bed with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands and his heart beating up into his throat. He hadn’t been ready to lose Leo. Not like this - not because he had been stupid enough to not keep himself in check, not because he had broken Leo’s heart by having been so ruthless and he definitely wouldn’t have known how to go on if they would’ve ended up having such a bitter break-up. Cristiano had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard how the bathroom door had been unlocked a few minutes later and he had thus almost whirled around when there had suddenly been a sniffling sound from behind him.</p><p>If he would’ve thought that his his heart couldn’t have broken any further, he would’ve been mistaken because Leo standing there, trembling and with his arms wrapped around himself, had definitely broken Cristiano’s heart, “Leo-”</p><p>“Do-Do you really think that?” Leo had changed while he had been in the bathroom, had exchanged his t-shirt and jeans for one of the oversized hoodies which had originally belonged to the Portuguese, and he had used the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe at his face as he had looked at Cristiano.</p><p>“No,” Cristiano had whispered, standing up from the bed. He had wiped his hands at his sweatpants, “No, I don’t. I never did.” Leo hadn’t replied, had merely moved the sleeve of his hoodie over his eyes again and Cristiano’s heart had somersaulted out of nervousness, “I was just... I know it’s not an excuse but I was just so angry and... I don’t know why I said that, Leo, because it’s definitely not what I’m thinking about you.”</p><p>“Then-Then why did you sa-ay it?”</p><p>Leo’s voice had been as small as he had been in Cristiano’s eyes in that moment and he had looked so hearbroken that Cristiano never could’ve kept himself from tearing up as well. “Because I’m an idiot,” he had choked out, daring to take a step into Leo’s direction, “because I was so angry that we lost that I...” He had shaken his head and had come to a halt again, hoping that it had been enough to show that his plan hadn’t included an attack of any sort, “I know that it I hurt you, and I’m so sorry for what I did, Leo. I promise that none of what I said was the truth.”</p><p>“It wa-asn’t?”</p><p>“No.” Cristiano had swallowed around the lump in his throat, “I’m sorry, Leo. I’m so sorry.” The next few seconds that had passed had easily been the hardest ones of his life. He had continued to stand there, watching Leo wipe at his face and looking so devastated it had made Cristiano want to wrap him up in his arms and make sure that nothing could ever hurt him again.</p><p>“Oka-ay,” Leo had eventually answered, but his answer could’ve been interpreted in more than one way and Cristiano hadn’t known which way had been the right one, hadn’t quite caught whether he had been expected to leave or if he had been allowed to stay. He had felt terribly out of place as he had stood by and had watched how Leo had gotten onto the bed and had crawled underneath the covers. The younger man had muttered something that Cristiano hadn’t understood. His voice had quivered when he had asked whether Leo could repeat what he had said, “Could-Could you turn off the lights ple-ease?”</p><p>“What?” </p><p>Instead of answering, Leo had merely looked at him and no words could’ve told Cristiano more than Leo’s eyes had been doing it in his drunken state: love, forgiveness, the need to be comforted and the Portuguese had nearly tripped over his own feet in an attempt to come after the younger man’s wish. Prior to that night, he had never once hesitated to get into bed with his boyfriend but when he had heard the sound of the duvet being flipped back, his tears had been back in full force and he had wasted no time to lie down next to Leo and gather him into his arms, “Bebê...” Leo had sniffled and had nestled against Cristiano’s chest, throwing an arm over the older man’s waist in return. Cristiano had closed his eyes, had nuzzled his face into Leo’s hair once the younger man had been settled against him and had taken a moment to say a quick prayer, not quite able to believe that he had been lying there with his boyfriend securely in his arms, “It’s okay I’m here, I promise that I won’t ever talk to you like that again. Eu nunca quero te perder, eu não posso te perder.”</p><p>“Love you,” Leo had whispered. His voice had been quiet and muffled where he had spoken against Cristiano’s chest, but the other had heard him well enough and Cristiano had tightened his arms around him as if he had been scared of ever letting go.</p><p>“I love you too, bebê.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ahhh getting this to an end was harder than I thought it would be xD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Picnics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's so light-hearted, just what I needed after the last two chapters xD</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Leo? <em>Leeeooo!</em>” Leo looked up from where he had been scrolling through his Instagram just in time to see Junior come running into the living room, “Leo, how do I look?”</p><p>The five-year-old was a bit out of breath, apparently having run from his room upstairs through the house to reach the living room downstairs as quickly as he only could’ve done it, when he came to stand by the couch, and Leo immediately set his phone aside to let Cristiano’s son know that he was willing to pay his entire attention to him, “Oh wow!” Despite the fact that he had never quite agreed with Cristiano’s way of dressing his son in almost ridiculously expensive Gucci outfits even if Junior would only go outside to play with his friends from preschool and end up ruining the clothes, Leo still broke out into a smile. Junior was just too adorable, dressed up as if he had wanted to impersonate his father. “You look <em>very</em> handsome, niño,” he said. His smile grew even wider at the squeal that the five-year-old let out, it was obviously that Junior had been out for a compliment from him.</p><p>Cristiano’s son grabbed one of his hands to attempt and pull him off the couch and onto his feet, “Can we go now? Pai said that we’ll go when I’m ready!”</p><p>Leo frowned in confusion, “I’m sorry niño, but go where?”, and he failed to keep himself from laughing out loud when Junior imitated Cristiano’s unamused look in a way that made any paternity test unnecessary.</p><p>“To go out and have a picnic,” the five-year-old answered, a <em>duh</em>-tone lacing his voice, “and I’m ready so we can go now!”</p><p>Junior’s answer did nothing to lessen Leo’s confusion but before he could’ve come up with some sort of response to what Junior had said, he made out a groan from the other side of the room and looked up anew. He blushed against his will when he spotted Cristiano standing by the front door and found out that Junior wasn’t the only one who was dressed in Gucci from head to toes. <em>Cristiano looked good.</em></p><p>“Era para ser uma surpresa,” the Portuguese said, giving his son an unamused look which made the boy whimper and hug Leo’s arm. Cristiano sighed and raised a hand as if he was about to move it through his hair, but since it was coiffed nothing short to perfection he merely dropped it again with another sigh, “Você sabia disso, nino.”</p><p>“Sorry Pai,” Junior whispered, hugging Leo’s arm a bit tighter but he relaxed again when Cristiano smiled at his son to show that he wasn’t all that angry.</p><p>“I thought that it would be a good idea for us to go on a picnic,” Cristiano went on, vaguely questioning to the window to his left, “the weather is too good to stay inside...”</p><p>Leo averted his gaze from his boyfriend down to his boyfriend’s son, who had since turned his wide eyes up at him. Cristiano had been right, it was a particularly warm April day and even though he had assumed that they wouldn’t really do much, he didn’t really mind the change of plans. It would’ve been a lie if he would’ve said that he didn’t appreciate it. “I better go and get changed then,” he said with a laugh, ruffling through Junior’s curls and dropping a kiss atop the boy’s head when he stood up from the couch. “Give me ten minutes, okay niño?”</p><p>“Are you really okay with it, bebê?” Cristiano’s arm caught the younger man around the waist when he was about to walk past his boyfriend in order to reach the stairs and Leo allowed himself to be pulled into a hug, smiling as Cristiano leaned down to kiss him, “I promise that I won’t be mad if you’re not.”</p><p>He brought a hand up to cup it against the older man’s face. Their first, and to that day only argument had shaken them both to the core and while two weeks had passed since then, Leo was certain that Cristiano still tried to resolve any dispute before they even had a chance to develop. “I don’t remember when I last went onto a picnic, so...” Keeping his hand on Cristiano’s cheek, Leo rose onto the tips of his toes to kiss him, “I’m excited.”</p><p>The smile that showed on his boyfriend’s face caused Leo’s heart to flutter, “Okay bebê, we’ll wait for you in the car. Vamos, você pode me ajudar a tirar as coisas da geladeira, Junior.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>It took Leo a bit more than the ten minutes he had told Junior he would need, not only because Cristiano had ended up refusing to let go of him before stealing a few more kisses from him, but because Leo had, while he had gotten changed, had realised that they would practically present themselves on a silver platter to any paparazzi that might spot them wherever Cristiano had wanted to take him and Junior and Leo wanted to match Cristiano immaculate appearance at least a bit.</p><p>“And I was beginning to think that you changed your mind, bebê,” was what his boyfriend greeted him with when Leo sat down in the passenger’s seat of the Porsche and even if he happened to roll his eyes at the comment, he leaned over to press a quick kiss against Cristiano’s lips nonetheless. How could he not have done so when Cristiano looked so incredibly good, with one of his eyebrows raised, his trademark million dollar smile and Leo was able to feel his gaze even through the sunglasses the older man was wearing. “Ready to go?”</p><p>Junior, who was strapped in his child seat in the backseat behind Leo, let out a triumphant “Yes!” and thrusted a fist into the air while Leo merely nodded and smiled back at Cristiano. He didn’t know just where Cristiano planned to drive to, but it didn’t take him long to realise that they were leaving the city instead of going further in and while he hadn’t noticed how tense he had been, he relaxed quite a lot after Cristiano had driven onto the highway. The further they would end up from the city, the smaller the chance of them being pestered by paparazzi would become.</p><p>Cristiano had put his right hand onto Leo’s tigh as soon as he had reversed the Porsche off the driveway to keep a loose hold on the younger man’s leg and Leo was absentmindedly tracing the veines on the back of Cristiano’s hand as he watched the landscape pass by. He lived for moments like these; Cristiano was humming a long to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN-QEQbPNgk">Portuguese song</a> that was playing while Junior was flipping through a picture book and Leo felt more at peace than he had in quite some time. When the five-year-old spoke up and interrupted the moment, Leo didn’t mind it in the slightest.</p><p>“Pai?”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“Do they really have ponies?”</p><p>Cristiano hummed in agreement, “Yeah nino, there’ll be ponies.”</p><p>“<em>Yaaay!</em>”</p><p>Leo still didn’t know just where they were headed to, but when he closed his eyes to allow the surprisingly strong April sun to warm his face, he couldn’t have been bothered with asking. If there was one thing he had learned ever since he had really gotten to know Cristiano all those months ago, it was that he knew what he was doing. Most of the time, anyways, as a 1-5 loss thankfully wasn’t a regular occurance. Leo hadn’t kept a track on the time, but he guessed that it had taken them about an hour and a half to reach the destination Cristiano had chosen for them and he found himself laughing when Junior gasped at the sight of the horses and ponies that were grazing on the pasture next to the parking lot they had just pulled onto.</p><p>“Ponies! Pai look, ponies! Leo look!”</p><p>“I told you,” Cristiano laughed, shaking his head. He gave Leo’s thigh a squeeze. If Leo were to judge by the first impression he got, the place Cristiano had picked for them seemed to be a children’s farm and as far as he was able to tell, they were the only visitors. The latter aspect made him frown. They surely couldn’t have been the only ones out and about on a Saturday with such good weather and as if Cristiano was able to read his mind, he leaned over to whisper into his ear, squeezing his tigh once more when he did, “I rented the place for us.”</p><p>“The whole place?”</p><p>The Portuguese nodded, “I did it for you and Junior. I want you to have a good time, bebê, and I won’t need to watch Junior that much.”</p><p>Even if he would’ve wanted to, Leo never could’ve argued with that. Cristiano’s son might not have been the shiest five-year-old there was, but even to Leo the ruthlessness of paparazzi was frightening most of the time and there was little sense in denying that Cristiano wouldn’t have been able to enjoy their day out if he would be forced to keep an eagle eye on his son. While the Portuguese got out of the car and rounded it to gather the cooling box he had prepared and a few other bags out of the trunk, Leo helped Junior out of his car seat. If he wouldn’t have kept a hold on his hand, Junior would’ve immediately run off to the pasture and he silenced the whimpered protest with a kiss atop Junior’s head. “We can go and pet the ponies in a few minutes, okay niño?”</p><p>Junior nodded after a short moment and leaned his cheek against Leo’s hand which was holding his own. Thankfully, it didn’t take more than a minute or so until Cristiano locked his car and called the both of them over. The owner of the children’s farm, who had been waiting for them by the entrance, gave them a warm greeting and offered to give them a short tour of the grounds, which both Cristiano and Leo gratefully agreed to.</p><p>Cristiano’s five-year-old son was getting increasingly more excited the longer the elderly woman showed them around and eventually pointed at the small group of picnic tables that stood between the farm house and the stable building before she left them to themselves. “<em>Leeeooo</em>,” Junior whined, tugging at Leo’s hand, “<em>t</em><em>he</em> <em>pooonieees!</em>”</p><p>The Portuguese laughed out loud and ruffled through his son’s hair, “You can go on your own, nino, but don’t go past the gate and be careful with the horses, yeah? Ligue para mim se precisar de alguma coisa. Você precisa comer algo mais tarde também.” Junior nodded hard enough to make his curls bounce, running off the very second that Leo loosened the hold on his hand. While Leo watched Junior run back to the pasture they had walked by earlier, Cristiano started to take a few Tupperware boxes out of the cooler and began to set the table. “Bebê,” he said with another laugh, “you’re even worse than I am. Come on, sit down.”</p><p>Leo opened his mouth to protest, but closed it before he said a word when Cristiano tilted his head, smiled at him and handed him a glass of cooled orange and mango juice, making it impossible for Leo to not move around the table and sit down beside his boyfriend instead. Given the way that Cristiano hummed, laid an arm around him and drew him closer, it seemed to be just what he wanted.</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Shopping</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“But Cristiano-”</p><p>“Come on bebê, just today.” Leo tried to remain stubborn, he really did. If he wouldn’t have felt such little desire to spend the day on a shopping trip in the city, he probably wouldn’t have been so persistent about not going and would’ve given into Cristiano’s wish right away but since he really didn’t want to go, he shook his head and decidedly not looked up from where he was typing away at his phone. Cristiano, however, turned out to be unusually adamant about wanting to go, “<em>Please</em>. Just this once, I promise.” The younger man let out an exaggerated sigh and moved his free hand through his hair, trying to appear as unamused as he only could’ve appeared when he turned his head to look at the Portuguese, who was sitting on the other side of the king-sized bed and pouting as if he was his five-year-old son instead of his thirty-two-year-old self, “You’ve never been such a killjoy, Leo. I mean... if you don’t want to do it for <em>you</em>, you can always do it for <em>me</em>, bebê.”</p><p>There was a moment of silence when the two of them looked at each other, then, “You still love me, don’t you?”</p><p>“Hey that’s unfair! Just because I said that I don’t want to go-” He was cut off when Cristiano, from one second to another and without any prior warning, clambered over the bed and towered over him to kiss him into the mattress in an apparent change of plans of how he wanted to persuade his boyfriend to give in and say yes in the end. That his phone was taken from him and discarded onto the bed beside him, Leo barely registered.</p><p>“Come on,” Cristiano repeated for what could’ve been the hundredth time in the course of fifteen minutes, whispering his plea in the short pause between two kisses, “it’s not that hard to say yes, bebê.” He kissed Leo once more before he abandoned the younger man’s lips to place a trail of kisses down the side of his neck, and Leo felt Cristiano smile against his skin when he failed to hide a gasp. “Junior’s staying with my mother today, which means that we have the <em>entire day</em>,” the Portuguese nipped at a spot that he knew was an especially sensitive one to elicit yet another gasp, “to ourselves,” and kissed it before he went on, “so there’s really no reason for you to say no.”</p><p>Even though Leo really didn’t want them to in that moment, Cristiano’s touches were starting to get to him and when the older man closed his lips around a patch of skin to leave a mark where he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide it if they would indeed go out, he downright threw his arms around Cristiano’s neck despite the way that his actions clearly contradicted his words. “Can’t we do it some other day?” he whined, letting out a gasp that blended borders with a moan at the feeling of the Portuguese’s teeth grazing over the fresh love bite and he was kissed again before he could’ve said another thing. </p><p>The chuckle that Cristiano answered with made the younger man blush and Leo wriggled a bit where he was practically rendered immobile under his boyfriend’s weight on top of him, complying in an instant when Cristiano deepened the kiss by sliding his tongue past Leo’s lips before he pulled back a short moment later, smirking in a way that did nothing to help Leo regain his composure. “Oh bebê,” the Portuguese purred, nuzzling against the side of Leo’s neck to leave a few kisses there that had Leo whimpering his boyfriend’s name in no time.</p><p>“Cristiano-”</p><p>“I may be a bit stupid sometimes but I know that you meant <em>me</em>, not <em>us</em>, bebê. If <em>I</em> can do it some other day.” The way that Cristiano was smiling against his skin between kisses and teasing hints of teeth told Leo just how much he was enjoying the situation they were in, “And the answer is <em>no</em>, because the boutique isn’t opening for the first time twice.”</p><p>It was only when Cristiano moved his hand from where it was holding onto a fistful of Leo’s hair down to his ass and squeezed it rather hard that Leo gave in. “Okay,” he squealed, “okay, we can go.”</p><p>Cristiano gave one of his backside cheeks another squeeze, flashed him a grin and kissed a corner of his mouth before he almost jumped off the bed, “That’s what I wanted to hear. Come on, get up and get dressed. We can still make it to the opening.” Leo tried to glare at the Portuguese, but with a love mark on his neck, a blushed face and tousled hair, he wasn’t even nearly as intimidating as he wanted to be and he hid his face behind his hands at what Cristiano said next, as it caused his blush to turn from a light shade of pink to a proper red. “Don’t worry about it, bebê, we’ll continue this later.” Cristiano winked at him when he peeked at him through his fingers, “But not right now, I want us to be punctual.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>Just like Leo had expected and dreaded, the Calle de Serrano was full of people. Tourists and locals alike were strolling through the shopping street which was been even more busy than it would’ve been on any other Saturday, and even though Leo hated it with his entire heart, he swallowed down the biting remarks he could’ve made about having pretty much been forced to come along. He did so not for his own, but for Cristiano’s sake. There was no use in denying that the Portuguese was basking in the attention they were receiving; that Cristiano had always loved the feeling of cameras on him Leo had known even before they had gotten onto a first name basis, as the older man had never really bothered to beat around the bush when it came to it. </p><p>Even though Leo had put on some of his finest clothes, he still felt like a grey duckling next to Cristiano who, in the younger man’s eyes, looked absolutely immaculate in the black suit he had chosen to wear over a black dress shirt, with his hair coiffed to perfection, a pair of matching Gucci sunglasses over his eyes and a smile on his face that easily could’ve been interpreted as arrogant.</p><p>Cristiano looked like a Greek god in whose shadow Leo easily could’ve disappeared if it wouldn’t have been for the unyielding, yet gentle hold he kept on Leo’s hand as they sauntered down the street to where the new Gucci boutique had opened earlier this day. The older man stopped by a display window every now and then to point at something that caught his eye, sometimes to ask for Leo’s opinion, at other times to tell him about whatever he knew about a certain brand or designer and Leo felt terribly out of place. Underdressed, clueless when it came to jewelry and painfully hyperaware of the cameras that were trying to catch their every move. He let out an inaudible sigh when Cristiano draped an arm over his shoulders without letting go of his hand and pulled him close to press a kiss against his temple. </p><p>The was a queue outside the boutique as well as a general crowd who apparently just lingered around to watch who would make an appearance, but Cristiano and Leo were allowed to enter without the Portuguese having to talk to the doormen and the younger man found himself being pulled into a proper kiss before Cristiano let go of him. If it wouldn’t have been for the doormen, those who were standing in front of the store surely would’ve glued themselves to the large window front in order to get a good photo of them and much to Leo’s surprise, the way that Cristiano wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest helped him to calm down a bit and so he was smiling when his boyfriend’s arm disappeared from around his shoulders.</p><p>“Señors,” one of the sales assistants, offering them a tray with Champagne glasses and while Cristiano turned the offer down with a negating gesture of his hand, Leo allowed himself to take a glass and sipped at the sparkling wine as he moved to sit down in one of the armchairs, his back faced towards the window front. Over the classical music that was playing in the background, he couldn’t even hear the crowd as much as he feared he would and drank his Champagne while he watched Cristiano, who had already begun to look through some of the designer shirts that were hung up on a rack and was engaged in a rather lively conversation with a different sales assistant. Leo shook his head and muffled the laugh that were threatening to escape him by drinking again, he’d probably never be able to understand how anyone could be so fascinated by <em>clothes </em>and even though they only left the boutique four hours later, he never once complained.</p><p>Cristiano was happy, <em>beaming</em> as he asked the sale assistant to take a photo of Leo and him and Leo never could’ve ruined the moment for his boyfriend.</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Double date</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This took an unexpected turn and ended up being more humorous than intended... I don't regret it :-D</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Look,” Leo had said, and it had sounded a lot more apologetic than he had wanted it to, “I know that you and Ney definitely put in a lot of work but I just don’t think that it’s a good idea if Cristiano and I-”</p><p>“No no we will come,” Cristiano had called out from where he had been sprawled out on the couch opposite of the one that Leo had been sitting on, cutting off his boyfriend and contradicting him at the same time, “my mother will watch Junior.”</p><p>James had laughed, “Alright then, I’ll t-t-tell Ney that you two will be coming. Is seven okay with you?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Leo had muttered and Cristiano had answered with an approving hum without looking up from his phone, “I guess that we’ll be there at seven then.” The call had ended shortly after that and the Argentine had done little more than locking his phone before he had dropped it onto the couch beside him decidedly carelessly and had run both of his hands over his face in an exaggerated manner, letting out a humourless laugh.</p><p>“Bebê?” Instead of answering, Leo had simply shaken his head and had kept his face hidden away for a moment longer. “Leo?”</p><p>“You know that there’s a reason why I don’t actually want us to go, right?” His voice had more of a bite to it than he had initially wanted it to, “A <em>reason</em>, Cristiano,” and when he had put his hands away to look at his boyfriend, he had been met with a look of honest confusion and something that could’ve been fear. “I don’t even know why Ney invited the both of us because I know that he still wants to break your nose like he said he would.”</p><p>The older man had pressed his lips together, clearly remembering the events that had lead to the worst argument of their relationship and ashamed that it had all been due to his inability to keep his anger under control. He had refused to look directly at Leo when he had answered, “It’s been almost three months.”</p><p>Leo had let out another humourless laugh, “I know. But you never apologised to him, did you? You didn’t just insult <em>me</em> when you claimed that we’re having an affair, Cristiano.” The frown on his face disappeared from one second to another when Cristiano had sat up and had looked at him in silence for a moment before he had stood up from the couch, had rounded the coffee table and had sat down beside him instead.</p><p>“I’m sorry.” Leo hadn’t expected Cristiano to whisper and so he hadn’t put up a fight when the older man had laid his arms around him and had used his weight to force him to lie down. “I’m sorry,” Cristiano had repeated, looking up at him with eyes as wide and vulnerable as Leo had rarely ever seen them and he had shaken his head, though smiling instead of frowning that time. “Me desculpe, por favor, não fique bravo comigo.”</p><p>He had brushed the curls back that had fallen onto Cristiano’s forehead. “I know that and I’m no longer mad,” he had said with a sigh, “but...”</p><p>His boyfriend’s eyes had stayed wide and fixed on his face, so as if he had expected him to hit him with the worst possible news, “<em>But?</em>”</p><p>“I just...” Leo had paused for a second, twirling one of Cristiano’s curls around his index finger, “I don’t want my boyfriend and my best friend to get into a fight and I <em>really</em> don’t want to be stuck in the middle of an argument because both of you are important to me, that’s all. I just want you two to get along.”</p><p>Cristiano’s expression had become less worried and he had used the hold he had on Leo’s waist to drag him down a bit so that he had been able to kiss him and Leo had immediately closed his eyes, taking Cristiano’s face into his hands as he had kissed him back. “I promise that I’ll apologise to him, bebê,” the Portuguese had whispered, kissing one, then the other corner of Leo’s mouth as if to seal the promise he had made, “if that’s what you want, I’ll apologise to him.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>Even with his boyfriend’s promise on his mind, Leo had been terribly nervous when he had climbed out of Cristiano’s Bugatti and onto the driveway of Neymar’s and James’ house. He still hadn’t been all so sure about how the evening would actually turned out to be and it had been due to his anxiety that his mind had already come up with one of the worst, if not the worst possible scenario: <em>Neymar saying something that’s meant as a joke but causes Cristiano to lose his cool and snap, Cristiano flinging his glass of water across the table and right into Neymar’s face, Neymar jumping over the table to let his fists speak instead of his words while Leo and James could only watch, Leo being forced to chose between his boyfriend and one of his two closest friends... </em>The younger man had only snapped out of his thoughts when he had felt Cristiano’s hand coming to rest in the small of his back and his boyfriend had pressed a lingering kiss against his temple.</p><p>“Bebê you look like you’re about to be sick,” Cristiano had said. There had been a hint of what could’ve been regret lacing his voice and he had slowly moved his hand up the curve of Leo’s back, “I promise that I won’t start anything.” Leo had nodded, letting out a shaky breath. He hadn’t pulled his hand back when Cristiano had taken it and had laced their fingers together, helping him to find grounding through such a simple gesture, “Eu te amo, bebê.”</p><p>“I love you too,” Leo had whispered in return and while it would’ve been an exaggeration to say that Cristiano had needed to drag him up the path to the front door, Leo had decidedly kept a bit behind his boyfriend. He never would’ve imagined that he, at one point of his life, would ever been nervous before he’d meet up with Neymar. Cristiano had rung the door bell and Leo had swallowed rather hard when the door had been opened only a few seconds later.</p><p>“Hey you two!” James’ enthusiastic greeting had made Leo smile despite the strain he had been under. The Colombian had opened the door wider to allow them into the house and had hugged Cristiano, then Leo. “Ney’s in the kitchen, the food will take a coup-couple more minutes.”</p><p>Cristiano had needed to let go of Leo’s face in order to untie his shoes, leaving Leo to push both of his hands deep into the front pockets of his trousers to stop himself from running them through his hair, as that would’ve given away just how anxious he had been, and he had kept his hands tucked away as he had made a beeline to the kitchen where Neymar had been busy handling a few cooking pots at the stove. The Brazilian had smiled at Leo from over his shoulder, “Hey, I’m glad you could made it,” and Leo hadn’t gotten around to answer, because his boyfriend had entered the kitchen before he could’ve done so and Neymar’s smile had become a bit less honest. “<em>Cristiano</em>.”</p><p>Cristiano had cocked an eyebrow, but had kept his voice at a neutral tone, “<em>Neymar</em>.”</p><p>Beside Leo, James had cleared his throat, “I-I bought some wine, Leo. If you want to try it...?” </p><p>~~~</p><p>“I swear to God Ney, one more word from you and-”</p><p>“And that’s 6-0 for me, Penaldo. Lide com isso.”</p><p>“Forget it, it won’t end like this! Você não é tão bom quanto Leo sempre diz que é!”</p><p>“Just admit that there’s <em>one thing</em> you actually suck at.”</p><p>Cristiano let out a snort and grumbled something under his breath before he answered, “I <em>do not</em> suck at this, I just don’t get to practice as I used to because Leo doesn’t really like it.”</p><p>“Ah well,” Neymar chirped, “I guess that my fiancé is better than your boyfriend then because he <em>always</em> plays FIFA with me.”</p><p>“Wha-”</p><p>“Fuck, this could’ve been 7-0!”</p><p>Cristiano growled and tightened the hold he had on the PlayStation controller so much that the fact it didn’t break was something similar to a miracle, “Nunca fale assim do Leo, está me entendendo?!”</p><p>“Claro, mas você ainda está perdendo,” the Brazilian laughed.</p><p>“I want a rematch, não pense que ficará assim!”</p><p>“You can have your rematch, but don’t come crying-”</p><p>Cristiano jumped up from the couch, actually did a mid-air pirouette as if they were out on the pitch instead of in Neymar’s and James’ living room and came to stand in front of Neymar, “<em>Siiiiii!</em>”</p><p>“You scored <em>one </em>goal.”</p><p>“The first of many, trust my words.”</p><p>“Jesus Christ,” Leo muttered into his glass. Ever since he had lost count of how many times James refilled his and he refilled James’ glass, he was feeling the wine all the more and if Cristiano wouldn’t have been so into the FIFA round, the way he was drinking definitely would’ve earned him a pointed look from his boyfriend, “Jesus <em>fucking</em> Christ.”</p><p>“I can’t deal with them,” James said with a mock whine, and both Leo and him broke out into laughter when they looked at each other over the rim of their glasses and rolled their eyes simultaneously. “They’re being so...”</p><p>“Dramatic,” Leo finished the sentence, his face contorting into a short-lived grimace as he took a bigger sip. “It’s FIFA, and they’re acting as if it’s a Clásico.”</p><p>“Bebê did you see that?” Cristiano almost broke his neck as he twisted around to look at his boyfriend, grinning from ear to ear, “That was an amazing goal, wasn’t it?”</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. A quiet morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Phew I wish I knew why my most favourite prompts always give me the hardest time? It's not funny xD</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Being the first one to wake up was hardly something unusual for Cristiano, who even thought of himself as a morning person as they were written about in the books. Whenever Leo was in Barcelona and Cristiano would wake up to an empty bed and the sobering realisation that they couldn’t be together as much as they would’ve liked to even though their relationship had been made public months ago, he would use the early morning hours to get the first workout and the meal prep for the day done before his son would wake up and demand a lot of his attention, which Cristiano was always happy to pay to him, of course.</p><p>When Leo was staying with Junior and him, however, things always went a little different and even though he appreciated his routine, he had never once complained about the impact Leo had on his daily life. He never could’ve made an honest complain about it, because he did wholeheartedly love it. It made him feel like Leo and him were able to live a life together, so as if the 600 km that devided them during the week weren’t there and they wouldn’t have to wait until one of them would retire to really build a life together. Leo had turned out to be the polar opposite to him in more aspects than Cristiano expected him to be. If given the chance to, Leo would happily stay up until midnight to bing-watch a series, sleep ten hours and wake up in the forenoon instead of pre-dawn like Cristiano was used to and since Cristiano wanted to be as close to his boyfriend as he could’ve been whenever he had the chance to, he too allowed himself to sleep in more often and would even go so far as to postpone or skip that first workout.</p><p>Still, it never once happened that he wasn’t the first one to wake up and it shouldn’t be any different on that Saturday morning in early June. Rays of the morning sun were peaking through the curtains, which were soundlessly billowing in the flow of the summer breeze that passed through the opened windows and the bedroom was so flooded with light that Cristiano never could’ve gone back to sleep, even if he wouldn’t have been wide awake the very seconds that his eyes had fluttered open. He smiled at the realisation that it was as good as predestined to be a good day: the weather seemed to be more than promising, Leo didn’t have to leave until tomorrow evening and Cristiano wouldn’t have to leave for any club duties. Suppressing a yawn, he sat up against the headboard. The smile that grew on his face when he looked down at his boyfriend was wide enough to make his cheeks hurt.</p><p>Leo was fast asleep, sprawled out on his stomach with his arms crossed under his pillow and his face turned away so that all he was able to see was a head of tousled hair. The older man bit his lip without being really aware of it when he saw that the thin summer blanket was bunched around Leo’s waist where it must’ve slipped down during the night, revealing pale skin and the alluring curve of the younger man’s back, latter which peaked in Leo’s ass that was only just so covered by the thin blanket. Cristiano had to hold himself back from reaching out and slipping a hand underneath the blanket, as he wasn’t necessarily out to wake his boyfriend up just now after he had kept him awake for quite some time last night, of which the faint pink marks on Leo’s flanks were a proof of.</p><p>God, how much he loved him. Every time Cristiano thought that he couldn’t grow any more fond of him, he was hit by the sheer amount of love he harboured for the younger man and the fact that the whole world knew that Leo was his. Leo, Junior and him were a family in their own terms, and he couldn’t have imagined a better thing. What did it matter that they lived hundreds of kilometres apart, that they turned to rivals whenever they would be on the pitch or that the media still tried to prove that Cristiano was only out to hurt Leo in one way or another, he loved Leo and Leo loved him back. It was enough; he had learned to appreciate what they had after he had come so close to losing him after the Clásico.</p><p>To have a family of his own was all he wanted and dreamed of for years as well as the main motivation as for why he decided to have Junior on his own rather than wait for the love of his life to come his way after all of his prior relationships had turned out to be disappointments. Maybe it was due to the way that they had already grown to be a family long before they had confessed their feelings for each other, but he was hardly able to remember how Junior and him did everything alone, how it was to not have Junior ask about Leo every day, to not spend hours on FaceTime calls with Leo and count down the hours until he could pick his boyfriend up from the airport.</p><p>Unable to resist the temptation, Cristiano leaned over and trailed a languid finger along the curve of Leo’s spine. He might’ve expected him to wake up, as he was a bit disappointed when his touch didn’t earn him any reaction from and so he repeated it once more, telling himself that Leo couldn’t be mad at him if he would wake him up with gentle touches. “Bebê,” he whispered. Still no response. He waited for a moment longer before he flipped the blanket back and moved closer to Leo, ending up towering above him with his hands on either side of Leo’s pillow. “Bebê,” Cristiano tried again as he leaned down and kissed the love mark he had left behind on Leo’s shoulder. At the soft mewl his boyfriend made, he laughed and kissed the bruise again, “Good morning.”</p><p>Leo merely muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, shifted a bit and turned his head to hide his face in the depths of the pillow, apparently not all that happy with being forced to leave Morpheus’ arms. The movement caused the summer blanket to slip down a bit more and reveal the younger man’s backside, and Cristiano only just so managed to bit back a moan when their naked bodies were flush against each other. He dropped his head into the crook between Leo’s head and shoulder, nibbling at the skin there while he rolled his hips and pressed his pelvis against his boyfriend’s backside. Leo still had his face hidden away, but the way that the tips of his ears were bright red told Cristiano that he was wide awake and he hummed against Leo’s skin, putting the most of his weight onto his right arm to bring his left hand up into Leo’s hair, gathering a handful of it in a gentle hold.</p><p>“Pai?”</p><p>He never would’ve expected to hear Junior’s voice and it surprised Cristiano so much that he flinched, lost his balance and plopped down on top of Leo, who gasped and tried to scramble up so that he wouldn’t be suffocated by the pillow and Cristiano let out a string of curses as he hurried to wrap the blanket around his waist. Traumatising his five-year-old son wasn’t something that he wanted to do and he sighed in relief when Junior only peaked into the room after both Cristiano and Leo had become at least somewhat decent. “Nino,” the Portuguese choked out, clearing his throat as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed and he held out the arm which he didn’t need to keep his modesty to show his son that it was okay for him to get the cuddles he always wanted in the morning.</p><p>Junior didn’t need to be told twice, the boy’s giggling filling out the bedroom as he ran across it and jumped into his father’s embrace, staying there for a couple of seconds before he wriggled out and climbed onto the king-sized bed instead, “Hi Leo!”</p><p>“Good morning, niño. Did you sleep well?”</p><p>“Uh-huh!”</p><p>Cristiano turned around just in time to see Junior cuddling up to Leo, who had pulled his blanket up to his chin, and he wished he would’ve had his phone on him to take a photo of the scene. <em>His family</em>. </p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Forgetting something</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I didn't know what to write for this prompt so it's a bit random, but I like it nonetheless :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cristiano had been preparing dinner when he had heard that Leo had been coming down the stairs. His boyfriend had been engaged in a rather lively conversation on the phone and since he hadn’t known who it had been that Leo had been talking to, he had not called out the younger man’s name and had instead paused cutting the bell peppers on the cutting board in front of him to turn halfway around and catch a glimpse of Leo and hopefully get his attention without having to disturb the ongoing conversation. His brows had pulled together in confusion.</p><p>When Leo had disappeared upstairs to take a shower about half an hour ago, he hadn’t mentioned wanting to dress up with a single word but he apparently had done just that and Cristiano had failed to keep himself from not feeling the surge of jealousy that washed over him at the realisation that Leo most definitely hadn’t bothered to put these clothes on to spend the evening on the couch watching Disney movies with Junior and him. It hadn’t seemed as if Leo had noticed him yet, a circumstance which had given Cristiano no reason as for why he shouldn’t watch his boyfriend’s every move like he had been tempted to for a moment longer. Leo had looked <em>good</em>.</p><p>While the Portuguese had usually loved the contrast between them, had absolutely adored the way that his boyfriend would drown in the oversized CR7 hoodies he had practically never been seen without and how cute the two of them looked in candid paparazzi photos - him in a suit and holding Leo’s hand, who, in a stark contrast, would be dressed in a CR7 that would be at least two sized too big - he had loved to see the younger man dressed up almost as much, especially since it had happened fairly seldom. The last time he had seen Leo dressed up in a way that had matched his style had been when he had managed to convince him into attending the opening of what should become his new favourite Gucci store, and that alone had been enough to make his confusion grow even bigger.</p><p>The dark dress shirt and matching pair of trousers which Leo had put on had hugged his curves much like a second skin and had brought out the alabaster tone of his skin, he had looked like a walking piece of art. Cristiano’s breath had hitched when Leo had thrown his head back to laugh about whatever it had been that the person on the other end of the line had said, thus revealing the love mark he had left behind on a spot low on his neck just last night and he had almost mourned the way that the bruise had been condemned to stay hidden under the collar of Leo’s dress shirt because he certainly wouldn’t have a problem with the whole world seeing it.</p><p>“Yeah yeah I’ll be there in a few, I’m just about to leave.” The Argentine had snorted, “Can you tell Geri to chill and save me some of the punch? It’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past two days and I’ll be devastated, no, <em>heartbroken</em> if it’s all gone by the time I’m there.”</p><p>Cristiano had put the knife he had been using down a bit absentmindedly as he had continued to watch his boyfriend, who had then been in the process of putting his shoes on after he had ended the phone call and had offered Cristiano quite a pleasant view of his backside when he had bend over, and before he had really known what he had been doing, Cristiano had already stepped away from the countertop and had come to stand in the kitchen door. He had pushed his hands into the front pockets of his sweatpants and had leaned against the door frame in an attempt to appear as unbothered as he only could’ve been even though he had been more than just eager to find out where Leo had been about to go looking like <em>that</em>. “So, where are you going?” He had cleared his throat, but other than it making his question come across as casual, it had caused him to sound just as confused as he had been.</p><p>Leo had turned around. The frown that had formed on his face had, in Cristiano’s eyes at least, been a rather cute one, “Seriously?” Not having expected that answer, Cristiano had merely continued to look at his boyfriend, his eyebrows slowly rising up to his hairline the longer that the moment of silence had dragged on and Leo had giggled, finishing tying his shoes before he had walked over to Cristiano to kiss him. “Cris, you spend an <em>entire evening</em> going on about how you’d like to come to Ser’s party but can’t because you have some CR7 related Skype call tonight?”</p><p>The younger man had giggled again when Cristiano had moved a hand over his face with a groan, “It’s tonight? I’m sorry, I really forgot about it.”</p><p>“Typical,” Leo had said with a teasing little smile. He had blushed when Cristiano had caught him in his arms and had pulled him flush against him.</p><p><em>Typical</em>, Cristiano had thought. While Leo had no longer been so quick to get embarassed around him like he had used to do it, he hadn’t ever stopped blushing and it had been the most adorable thing. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he had asked, cocking an eyebrow as if he had dared his boyfriend to reply and when Leo had indeed kept his pretty lips squeezed together, Cristiano had leaned down and had pressed a kiss against them, moving his hands from the small of Leo’s back to his ass. “Do you have to go like this?” He had whined rather than whispered it, listening to Leo’s laugh as he had nuzzled his face into the crook between Leo’s shoulder and neck to kiss the love mark he had left there last night.</p><p>“Like what, Cris?”</p><p>“<em>This</em>.” Cristiano’s had given Leo’s ass a squeeze, “If I would’ve met you at a party looking like that I would’ve taken you home with me in an instant.”</p><p>“Cris-”</p><p>“I know, I know.” Leo hadn’t needed to tell him that he wouldn’t ever betray him, it had merely been Cristiano’s intense feelings that had made him think like that and he had pulled back to kiss Leo again, “Have fun, bebê. Call me when you want me to pick you up, okay?”</p><p>“Sure, I’ll do that.” Cristiano had smiled down at his boyfriend and had pulled his arms back to allow him to move away. “Niño? Come here for a second.” The five-year-old hadn’t needed to be told twice, had come running from the living room only a moment later and had jumped right into the hug Leo had offered to him. Leo had kissed the top of Junior’s head, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Be good and listen to your Pai.”</p><p>“Uh-huh, I’m always good!” The scowl which had formed on Junior’s face had been almost identical to his father’s, “Always!”</p><p>“Most of the time,” Cristiano had muttered between two fake coughs and had winked at his son when Junior had scowled at him next. </p><p>The five-year-old had wrinkled his nose, “No Pai, <em>always</em>,” and had, as if to prove a point, wrapped his arms around Leo to hug him close. Cristiano had known very well that Leo wouldn’t ever try to claim that Junior hadn’t been the best-behaved preschooler he had ever met and while his boyfriend had thus been spoiling Junior to an extend that couldn’t have been missed, Cristiano never once had the heart to speak up and tell him to stop. He had, after all, spend years wishing that he would find someone who would accept Junior as well.</p><p>Leo had moved a hand through Junior’s curls, “Okay niño, I really have to go now,” and the boy had only allowed him to step away after Leo had promised that he would play Lego with him tomorrow.</p><p>“Don’t drink too much.” Cristiano had caught the younger man around the waist, had kissed his temple and had laughed when Leo had rolled his eyes at what he had said. He had muffled whatever his boyfriend had wanted to retort with a kiss.</p><p>~~~</p><p>It was close to midnight when Cristiano shut his MacBook, leaned back into his chair and rubbed his temples, feeling the harbinger of a headache even more clearly then that he was no longer stuck in the cross-continental Skype call. He was happy that his own brand was so sucessful, of course, but the strain of keeping his career going on as well as off the pitch could be a bit much and more than just nerve-wrecking, especially whenever it forced him into sitting in his study late on a Friday evening while his boyfriend was at a party he would’ve liked to attend too. Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Cristiano pushed his chair back and heaved himself onto his feet, gathering his phone, glasses and empty coffee mug before he left his study for the kitchen downstairs.</p><p>He had put his son to bed over three hours ago, something that had ended up being more complicated than he had expected it to because Junior had vehemently insisted on his bedtime story being read by Leo, even though Leo had let the five-year-old know that he wouldn’t be there. Cristiano shook his head, snorting to himself in the dark kitchen at the memory of it as he put the used mug into the dishwasher, and he was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone vibrated where he had put it aside onto the countertop.</p><p><em>Leo</em>: [Can you come and pick me up? ❤️❤️❤️]</p><p>A smile grew on his face and he shook his head again as he typed a quick reply, [Give me ten minutes bebê 😘]</p><p><em> Leo:</em> [Yes Papi 😍]</p><p>While he didn’t necessarily like it when Leo went out and got drunk with their friends, he knew that his boyfriend was aware of his own limits and it was made easier for him by the way that Leo would only become more bolder and affectionate, not quarrelsome like his father had always been in his drunken state. Cristiano made sure that his five-year-old son was still fast asleep and thus good to be left alone for a short while before he jogged through the house to get to the garage as quickly as possible.</p><p>“Hey bebê.” The way that Leo smiled when he sat down in the passenger’s seat of Cristiano’s Bugatti made it impossible for the Portuguese to not lean over, cup his boyfriend’s face and pull him into a kiss which Leo immediately welcomed. He huffed a laugh, liking his lips when he pulled back, “Bebê you taste like-”</p><p>“Cherries,” Leo interjected with a giggle, “Ser made more punch than I thought he did,” and stole another kiss from Cristiano, “but I’m not <em>that</em> drunk, Cristiano.”</p><p>“Of course you’re not. Let’s get you home, yeah?” </p><p>Leo hummed, hugged Cristiano’s right arm and pressed a little kiss against his biceps while his boyfriend started the engine. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Pets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Leo’s phone vibrated where he had put it down beside his head on deck chair, he got startled so badly that it almost resulted in him falling of said chair, and thankfully, Junior, who was playing with his Nintendo Switch on the deck chair next to Leo’s, didn’t even look up to see what the small commotion had been about and thus saved Leo from trying to explain to the six-year-old as for why he had blushed to a bright shade of red. Junior had only turned six a couple of days ago, but Leo knew that he wasn’t just imagining that Cristiano’s son had already become a lot more alert to the adults around him, which was appropriate for his age and the fact that he would go to elementary school once the summer would be over. Blinking against the bright sun, Leo blindly grabbed his phone and plopped back down onto the deck chair with a groan he failed to suppress. He frowned when he saw that the text had come from his boyfriend.</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Where are you?]</p><p>Leo had already been more than just a bit confused after Cristiano had let him know during breakfast earlier that he would be gone for a couple of hours, as it happened to be a Sunday and while Cristiano sometimes had to work on Saturdays, he had never once left Junior and Leo alone on a Sunday. His confusion continued to stand upright when he answered his boyfriend’s message. [Home?]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Well that’s what I hope 😉 Inside or in the garden?]</p><p>Cristiano’s question made the younger man snort, and he shook his head as he typed his reply. [Did you look outside today? 🤣 Junior and I are in the garden.]</p><p><em>Cristiano:</em> [Okay that’s good bebê, I’ll be home soon ❤️😘]</p><p>“Dork,” Leo muttered under his breath, low enough that Junior couldn’t understand him, and he closed his eyes as he put his phone aside and shifted to lie back down onto the deck chair, turning his face towards the sun with a sigh. He didn’t get to bask in the sun for long, however; he couldn’t have lay there for more than two minutes before he was disturbed again, that time by Junior, who whispered his name in order to get his attention.</p><p>“Leo? Leo?” A short pause, then, “Leo?”</p><p>“Yeah, niño?” The Argentine made sure that he was smiling as he pushed himself onto his forearms and squinted at Cristiano’s son, who had his bottom lip pushed out and his pleading eyes fixed on him as if Leo had already said no to whatever he would say.</p><p>“Can I have something to drink? And... maybe some ice cream, please?”</p><p>Leo’s smile grew a bit wider and he sat up properly. Even if he would’ve wanted to, he never could’ve said no to Junior and the way he kept looking at him, “Sure, what kind of ice cream do you want?”</p><p>Junior’s pleading look was replaced by one of glee from once second to another and he hugged his Switch to his chest to prevent it from slipping out of his hold, “Chocolate? And strawberry? With sprinkles?”</p><p>“I’ll get those for you, niño.” Leo stood up and ruffled through the six-year-old’s curls, “Give me a moment, yeah? I’ll be right back.”</p><p>“<em>Yeees!</em> You’re the best, Leo!”</p><p>It wasn’t the first time that he heard Junior say it and while he knew that it, in that moment, was merely due to him allowing the boy to have ice cream, it still made his chest feel like it was ready to burst open. He kissed the boy atop the head before he went inside to fetch the drink and ice cream; Leo was smiling to himself as he moved around in the kitchen, got a glass out of a cupboard, filled it with apple spritzer from the frige and added a few ice cubes simply because Junior had a habit of stealing them from his drinks and prepared a bowl of ice cream.</p><p>“There you go, niño.”</p><p>Cristiano’s son squealed when he saw Leo coming back onto the terrace, “Thank youuu!” and took the glass Leo handed him with both hands, eagerly drinking from it.</p><p>“Don’t knock it over,” Leo said with a gentle but admonishing tone, putting the bowl down next to the six-year-old, who nodded and gave the glass back to him once he had emptied the apple spritzer and had finished all of the ice cubes out. Before Leo could’ve lay down a third time and Junior could’ve taken the bow of ice cream into his hands, they were disturbed by the sound of the garden gate being opened and Cristiano calling out while he was still out of sight.</p><p>“Hey you two, I’m back! Junior vem cá, tenho uma coisa para ti!”</p><p>Junior didn’t need to be told twice, immediately forgetting about his ice cream to jump onto his feet and run across the garden to greet his father, but it wasn’t just the six-year-old who stopped in his tracks when Cristiano came around the corner and into sight - as did the German Shepherd puppy that was trotting along.</p><p>“Cristiano...”</p><p>“Pai!”</p><p>The Portuguese was grinning as if he just won a major title and he beckoned his son over before he crouched down and held the squirming puppy firmly in place between his legs. The small dog’s tail was wagging, showing just how excited it was, but other than letting out a whine every now and then, he stayed perfectly still between Cristiano’s legs and Junior seemed more stunned than Leo had ever seen him when he knelt down onto the grass without taking his eyes off the dog. “Você precisa ter cuidado com ele, okay meu amor?”</p><p>“Puppy,” Junior whispered. He held out a hand for the puppy to have a sniff at it, giggling when the back of his hand was licked and pulled it back only to offer it to the dog all over again, “Hey, that tickles!”</p><p>Cristiano loosened the hold he had on the collar once he was reassured that his son wouldn’t be bitten and he brough his free hand up to comb through Junior’s curls, tilting his head as he watched how his son was completely enamoured by the dog and Leo felt a bit out of place. While he wanted to ask Cristiano a good dozen questions, he was hesistant to disturb his boyfriend in the moment he had with his son and he blushed a bit when Cristiano looked over at him, apparently having expected more of a reaction. “You can think of a name for him, nino,” the Portuguese said, waiting until Junior nodded before he unclipped the leash. The puppy immediately used the chance and gave a playful little bark as it pounced onto the six-year-old, who fell back onto the grass with a squeal and giggled at he wrestled with the small dog.</p><p>“You’re not mad, are you?”</p><p>If Cristiano would’ve asked him, Leo would’ve needed to admit that he hadn’t perceived how Cristiano had made his way over to him, fixed as he had been on the sight of Junior and the puppy rolling around in the grass, the two of them behaving as if this wasn’t their first meeting but a reunion of best friends. “What?”</p><p>His boyfriend laid an around around his waist and pulled him closer to nuzzle his hair. “That I got us a dog, bebê. I hope you’re not mad about it.”</p><p>Frowning, Leo turned his gaze up at Cristiano, “Why would I be mad that you bought a dog for your son? It’s your decision, not mine,” but when he wanted to look at Junor and the puppy again, Cristiano’s hand caught him by the chin and made it impossible for him to look at anything other than his boyfriend’s face.</p><p>“He’s <em>our</em> dog, bebê. Not just Junior’s or mine, he’s supposed to be ours.” Leo’s cheeks throbbed from the blush that shot into them. Their dog? Buying a dog wasn’t something he ever would’ve done on a whim and he knew that Cristiano hadn’t done it either, a dog was always a real member of a family... Cristiano laughed, kissing him before he could’ve broken his mind any further and as always, Leo’s mind was nothing more than an open book for his boyfriend to read. “<em>Our</em> dog,” the Portuguese repeated. “He’ll be yours as much as he’ll be Junior’s and mine, Leo.”</p><p>Leo shook his head, but the smile on his face was a wide one, “Where did you even get him from?”</p><p>“One of Ser’s friends breeds German Shepherds,” Cristiano gave him a quick kiss and grinned down at the younger man, “I originally wanted to go for a Labrador but... I’m pretty happy with that guy, I think I made the right choice.”</p><p>“He seems like a good dog, it’s just that you never mentioned anything so I didn’t expect-”</p><p>“Nooo Mr. Floof don’t attack Leo! No!”</p><p>Junior’s shout came a mere second before Leo felt something running against his legs and while Cristiano tended to Junior and explained to him that Leo wasn’t being attacked at all, the Argentine crouched down and allowed the German Shepherd puppy to have a lick at his face. “Oh you’re a good boy,” he said, using the tone of voice that was usually reserved for Junior whenever the boy was hurt or he was reading him a bedtime story and the puppy, or Mr. Floof according to Cristiano’s son, yapped, his ears flopping and tail wagging as he sat down to show that he was more than eager to receive the pats Leo was giving him. “Such a good boy!” Leo shifted from his crouching position down into a sitting one, “Yes <em>you are</em>, you’re <em>such a good boy</em> Mr. Floof!”</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Vacation (1/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I finished this quite late in the evening simply because the plot didn't allow me to go to sleep before it would be written out, so I'm sorry if there are mistakes that I missed :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Bellissimi</em>. The moment that Cristiano had stumbled over the ad, when he had been scrolling through his Instagram late one evening, he had known that the small Italian village it had advertised would be the perfect destination for them all to go on a family holiday together. Not that Cristiano had been on the lookout, even though he had thought about sitting down and planning a trip for them.</p><p>He had been dying to take Leo to Madeira, to show him all of his favourite places on the island and to introduce him to the rest of his family that was still living there, but he had known better than to assume that they would be granted the chance to have a relaxed time there, especially not before they both would’ve retired and even then Cristiano would probably be forced to rent a part of the beach and every restaurant he would take Leo to just so that they could be on their on and have a bit of privacy. Together with the fact that their relationship would be condemned to be a long-distance one for a few more years until the first of them would retire, them not being able to act as freely in public as any normal couple could was one of the few disadvantages that came from their jobs and Cristiano probably wouldn’t ever stop to mourn those lost possibilies in a way.</p><p>On a whim, he had planned the week-long holiday as a surprise for Leo during the last week of their summer break, feeling reassured enough to do so as his boyfriend would be staying with them in Madrid anyway and Cristiano thus hadn’t been in the position of maybe having to cancel the entire thing at a last minute because Leo would be needed elsewhere. In his terms, he had planned it out perfectly. He would pick Leo up from the airport just like he had done it for the past few months but instead of driving him home, he would lead him to his private plane where Junior and Mr. Floof would already be waiting for them. Cristiano had been grinning from ear to ear when he had gotten the confirmation e-mail from the owner of the holiday house he had chosen for them; he himself had been excited for their holiday but he had been a lot more eager for Leo’s reactions because when it came to make his boyfriend happy, Cristiano wouldn’t ever spare any expenses.</p><p>As opposed to his former girlfriends or lovers, Leo had never once demanded anything from him. It hadn’t taken Cristiano much to understand that Leo would be much more happier with a bouquet of flowers and a few baked treats from a local bakery than a new Rolex watch but no matter how much Leo had protested and had tried to argue that not even that had been necessary, Cristiano never had any intention to try and stop spoiling his boyfriend at least a bit - and a holiday wouldn’t be something that Leo could refuse to accept.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Considering how excited he was, he was smiling in a way that was almost predestined to give away that he was up to something while he waited in the arrival hall of Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport. Cristiano would’ve sworn that his smile grew impossibly wider when he spotted his boyfriend and he pushed his sunglasses higher up the bridge of his nose simply because he knew that it made him look sophisticated. “Hey bebê,” he purred, deliberately ignoring the looks they received from the other travelers who were around him and pulling Leo into his arms to kiss him like he had wanted to do it for the entire week. He was practically able to feel the blush which was rising into the younger man’s face when he didn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss. To him, it was still one of the most endearing thing to see Leo blush so freely even though the younger man had since become a lot more confident around him. “I missed you.”</p><p>“I missed you too,” Leo answered, a sweet smile on his face. He almost held out his hand for Cristiano to take it, a wish that the Portuguese immediately came after, and Cristiano kissed him again before he begun to pull him along. Since Leo wasn’t actually able to see his face, he allowed himself to smirk at the small sound of confusion his boyfriend let out once it must’ve began to dawn in on him that they weren’t walking towards the exit like they normally would’ve done. “Cristiano-”</p><p>“There’s a reason why I told you to pack a few extra things,” was all Cristiano said in response with an almost chirping undertone underlining his voice, not wanting to reveal the entire surprise just yet.</p><p>“But,” Leo tried to counter. Cristiano’s heart soared at the way that he sounded a bit abashed, “What about Junior and Mr. Floof?”</p><p>The name Junior had chosen for their dog might’ve been a childish one, but as neither Leo nor he actually had the heart to speak up and destroy the six-year-old’s glee about having a new best friend, Mr. Floof was there to stay. “They’re coming with us, of course. Don’t worry about it, bebê.” Leo didn’t ask any further question, but Cristiano knew his boyfriend too good to assume that he had been placated and he kept a gentle but unyielding hold on Leo’s hand when he lead them to security, where they had been waved through after a few moments.</p><p>“Can you at least tell me where we’re going, Cristiano?”</p><p>He stopped in his tracks, waited until Leo was by his side and pulled him into a side hug to kiss his temple, “Italy, bebê.”</p><p>“Italy?”</p><p>Cristiano nodded, “It’s beautiful, I promise,” and he kissed him again when Leo, instead of answering verbally, merely leaned against him when they resumed walking. God how I love you, he thought, and if someone would’ve told him that he was the luckiest man in the world in that moment, he wouldn’t have doubted it.</p><p>“Hi Leo!”</p><p>Junior bounced up and down where he was sitting, held back by the seat belt and the table that accompanied the group of four seats and when Leo answered, his voice having shown not one bit of the confusion and maybe even irritation he was harbouring, “Hey niño, how are you?”</p><p>Even though Cristiano was bound into a conversation with the pilot and copilot, he was watching his boyfriend and his son not all that unconspicous. It didn’t matter how often he’d get to see it, he would never grow tired of seeing Junior so delighted, Leo so at peace and the two of them getting along so perfectly - it was all he had ever wanted, after all. He kissed his son atop the head and leaned down even further to steal a kiss from Leo before he sat down on the only free seat of the group of four beside Mr. Floof, rewarding the dog with a few strokes down his neck for having stayed calm. Cristiano found himself unable to look at anything but his boyfriend when the plane rolled onto the runway. Leo’s cheeks were flushed to a faint shade of pink as he listened to Junior talking about something and pointing at a few random pictures in the book which he held in his hands and it always amazed Cristiano how Leo had never turned Junior down before, how he was always there for him...</p><p>He was pulled out of his thoughts when Mr. Floof let out a whimper once the plane started to gain speed and he unclipped the leash that was connected to the seatbelt to pull the young German Shepherd into his lap, attempting to calm the dog down by patting his sides and whispering to him. “It’s okay, it won’t be long and once we’re up, you won’t even feel it anymore,” Cristiano whispered and much to his relief, his words as well as his touches did help the young dog to stop whimpering. “That’s a good boy, yes you’re such a good boy Mr. Floof.”</p><p>Both Junior and Leo giggled when Mr. Floof thanked Cristiano for his efforts by licking his face.</p><p>The duration of the flight from Madrid to Nice wasn’t that much longer than it had taken Leo to fly to Madrid from Barcelona, they landed in Nice, from where they would continue their journey with a rental car, exactly one hour and fifty-five minutes after their departure and Cristiano was hardly able to believe his luck that it truly seemed to go by as perfectly as he had planned and hoped it to go. Junior was on his best behaviour, never once having whined or complained that he’d like to go home like Cristiano had feared he would, as his six-year-old son had usually done it ever since he had been able to speak proper sentences and which was the reason as for why Junior would stay with Dolores whenever Cristiano would travel because of club-related duties.</p><p>“<em>Paaai?</em>” his son asked him after they had entered the arrival hall of Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and Cristiano was busy trying to make out the office of the rental car company. The Portuguese hummed to Junior that he was good to go on, “Can I <em>please</em> have ice cream?”</p><p>He opened his mouth to retort that they didn’t really have time to eat ice cream but not even he was immune to his son’s pleading eyes and he combed through Junior’s eyes as he looked over to Leo, who was typing away at his phone with one and stroking the top of Mr. Floof’s head with his free hand, “If Leo’s willing to go with you, nino...”</p><p>The fact that Junior didn’t need to beg Leo didn’t really come as a surprise. “Oh, ice cream?” The Argentine immediately locked his phone and put it away, holding out his free hand, “We can go and get you ice cream, niño.”</p><p>With a squeal, Cristiano’s son dashed over to Leo to take the hand that was offered to him, “Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!”</p><p>“Bebê,” Cristiano said to get his boyfriend’s attention and when their gazes met, he tilted his head into the direction of the rental car office, geting a smile and a nod from Leo in return. They understood each other well enough without any words. It thankfully didn’t take Cristiano long to get a rental car, though he did end up taking a Mercedes GLC SUV instead of the Bentley he had initially aimed for in the hope that they would thus wouldn’t stand out as much in the village that didn’t even have one hundred residents. When he got back to the meeting point he had agreed with Leo, Junior was sitting one one of the benches, kicking his legs into the air while he happily licked away at the strawberry ice cream Leo had bought him. “Você está feliz agora?” His son nodded without taking his eyes off the ice cream, making him suppress a snort. He caught one of Leo’s hands and brought it up to kiss the back of it. “Just two more hours and we’ll be there, bebê.”</p><p>“It’s okay,” Leo laughed, raising onto tiptoes to kiss him in return, “I’m excited more than anything.”</p><p>Later on, Cristiano would thank God that it had all gone by so smoothly, the flight as well as the cross-border drive from France to Italy. Junior was playing a game on his Switch and babbling to Mr. Floof who, albeit lying on the backseat next to him, was listening to the six-year-old if his twitching ears were a proof of it; Cristiano was humming along to the music he had put on and Leo was tracing invisible patterns on the back of Cristiano’s right hand that had claimed its place on his thigh.</p><p>“It’s beautiful,” the younger man said at one point, almost twisting his neck in order to look at the scenery they were driving by and Cristiano answered by squeezing his thigh simply because he didn’t know what he could’ve said. It was already then that he knew that he had made the right decision.</p><p>Bellissimi was a village located on a mountainside of the Imperia region no more than five kilometer from the sea, a cluster of about two dozen houses which had been build around a small Romanesque church, an equally small market place, had its own olive farm and exactly fifty-four inhabitants, as the owner of the holiday house had let Cristiano know in one the e-mails they had exchanged. Cristiano also knew that it rarely ever happened that more than a handful of tourists stayed there per month, as people apparently preferred the hotels and holiday houses which were in close proximity to the beach - it was as if it had been made for them. When he needed both of his hands to steer the Mercedes through the narrow, roughly paved and winding streets, Leo put a hand onto his thigh to trace patterns there and instead of distracting him like he first thought it would, it made it even easier for him to concentrate on the seemingly endless serpentine.</p><p>“Wow,” the younger man whispered. Cristiano knew that he never would’ve faked his excitement to such an extend, “Cristiano...”</p><p>“I didn’t disappoint you, did I?”</p><p>Leo laughed, shook his head and smiled at him before he looked back up the driveway and at the holiday house that lay at the end of it, “No you didn’t. You definitely didn’t disappoint me.”</p><p>“I’m glad, bebê.”</p><p>There was no one awaiting them - the owner had given Cristiano the code to a key box that hung beside the front door and within a few moments, they were making their way into the house. Junior and Mr. Floof immediately begun to chase each other around the vast open space of the living room area, the two of them needing to burn quite some energy after they had been forced to sit for hours on end, and while Leo watched them, Cristiano took it onto himself to bring their luggage inside.</p><p>“How did you even find this place?”</p><p>Cristiano closed the front door, moved to stand behind Leo and wrapped his arms around him to hug him, dropping his head and nuzzling his face into the crook between his boyfriend’s neck and shoulder, “By coincidence, really. I saw the ad for this and knew that it could be something for us.” The younger man hummed, rested his hands on Cristiano’s forearms and leaned back against him, persuading the Portuguese into hugging him a bit tighter.</p>
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<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Thunderstorms (2/2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Once again: I finished this after a long day, so please be lenient with me if there should be any major mistakes I missed :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their week in Bellissimi turned out to be so good that Cristiano seriously contemplated to make a request whether the owner of their holiday house would be willing to sell the house to him. It was nothing short to a stay in paradise, and he was sure that he never went on such a good holiday.</p><p>Leo and him would end their nights later than they usually would and did without setting an alarm so that it would be Junior and Mr. Floof who would wake them up in the morning and even though it was the polar opposite of the routine that Cristiano used to live with, it never even crossed his mind that he had to change anything about it. What was there to change when he got to wake up next to the man he loved morning after morning, when he would come back from his morning jog with Mr. Floof to Leo having made them breakfast with the foods the younger man would’ve purchased at the small local market and when Junior had so much fun playing with the handful of children who lived in the village despite the language barrier which divided them.</p><p>Once they would’ve eaten their breakfast and Leo would be happy with the state of the kitchen, they would pack a bag and drive down to the nearby beach area in which tourists were still somewhat of a minority and locals had put up a small craft market. While Cristiano and Junior would splash around in the sea, Leo would often lie on a deck chair to bask in the sun and nap or read a book, Mr. Floof never leaving his side unless he would allow Junior to pull him along and into the water. Sometimes Leo would wander off to the marketplace on his own and even though Cristiano knew that there was no real reason for him to worry about Leo’s safety, he would always perk up when his boyfriend would disappear out of sight.</p><p>Leo might’ve been able to defend himself but if the press should find out where they were staying, would send its flock of paparazzi out to harass them and would end up pouncing on the Argentine, Cristiano wouldn’t hesitate to come to his defence but thankfully, he didn’t end up needing to physically protect Leo from anyone. The few fans that would dare to come up and approach them, mostly children and young teenagers, would get their autographs or selfies and if Leo happened to be in the mood for it, he would even play a round of football with his young fans and it was just such a <em>Leo</em> thing to do that Cristiano’s heart would somersault whenever there would be a chance for him to witness it, even if it would make him dread their inevitable return to Spain.</p><p>They would stay on the beach until his six-year-old son would start to grow tired and become cranky, and Cristiano would always need to carry him to the car as Junior would vehemently insist that his legs were no longer working. While Junior and Mr. Floof would take a quick afternoon nap and the Portuguese would go through his workout routine of the day, Leo would walk the distance to the next village to by everything they would need for their <em>merenda</em> - fresh and local bread, cheese, fruits, vegetables, meats and he wouldn’t ever come back without a little surprise for Junior. Cristiano tried to tell his boyfriend that there was no need for him to take it all onto himself and work through the chores as if they were home and not on a holiday, though it had since begun to dawn on him that no one could’ve forced Leo to do these things unless the younger man wanted to do them, so Cristiano let him.</p><p>~~~</p><p>What, in the end, made it so hard for him to face the fact that they would be more or less forced to leave his place behind the following day, the Portuguese decided as he continued to jog over the roughly paved serpentine path, was that Leo and him couldn’t ever find this kind of peace anywhere else. Neither in Madrid, Barcelona or anywhere else in Spain, unfortunately not in Maderia for the time being and the way that Cristiano’s heart ached while he was running up the relatively steep mountain wasn’t due to any physical exhaustion. <em>He needed Leo</em>. For a couple that was stuck in a long distance relationship and constrained to make it work under circumstances like the ones that were determining Cristiano’s and Leo’s lives, someone might’ve tried to argue that getting to see each other during the weekends was more than enough but Cristiano needed Leo in his daily life.</p><p>He needed to wake up next to him, needed his boyfriend’s face to be the first thing he’d see in the morning and the last thing he’d look at before he would fall asleep at night. He needed Leo to be there for Junior like Cristiano knew Leo was yearning for, to make Junior the breakfast pancakes he loved and which Cristiano hadn’t even once managed to make them taste quite like Leo’s, to read him bedtime stories and to save Junior from the heartache of having to say goodbye to him over and over again. Hell, Cristiano even needed Leo to be sat at his kitchen table with a book in one, a cup of tea in his other hand and his bottom lip caught between his teeth while he would eagerly take in the printed words. Cristiano needed everything that the younger man could possibly give him, no matter how small or trivial it could’ve come across to others.</p><p>He needed Leo’s laugh around him, which was always so different than the laugh he would let the world hear in public or on the pitch whenever he was staying with Junior and Cristiano just as much as he needed Leo’s silence that wouldn’t ever fail to calm him down and put his feet back onto the ground whenever he would have a bad day, even if he’d only get to hear it over the phone. Cristiano needed to hear Leo’s little remarks about how he can’t believe that someone would eat kale voluntarily and to see him blushing to an endearing shade of pink at the slightest bit of teasing that he’d receive from Cristiano in return. He needed Leo more than he could’ve put into words if he would’ve been asked about it and, in an inexplicable way, so much more than he already had him.</p><p>The Portuguese was noticably out of breath by the time he reached the peak of the mountain he had chosen for his evening run. Given how busy his mind was, he had hardly noticed for how long he had been running and what a distance he had put behind him but since Junior and Leo had already been asleep when he had left the house to go on a run, he was in no real hurry to turn around and go back. After having used the towel that hung around his neck to wipe the sweat off his face, Cristiano caught his right, then his left leg by the ankle to stretch his quadriceps. The nature of the Imperia region which surrounded Bellissimi was absolutely breathtaking. He had gone onto runs twice a day during the past week and the only people he had come across so far had been an olive farmer and his farm helper who had been checking on the olive trees, a young girl riding a pony and a few elderly women who had greeted him from their kitchen windows.</p><p>To him, it was as if they had left their fame behind in Spain and then that he had gotten a taste of what it could be like, it almost pained him that they’d have to do without it once they would board their flight back to Madrid. Cristiano sat down on a tree stump with a sigh, massaging his thighs as he looked down at Bellissimi and the other small villages that lay between the mountains and the ocean. The sun had since begun to dawn and it seemed to become darker with every minute that passed, if he would’ve taken his phone with him he could’ve checked the time to see exactly how late it was but he if he were to guess, he would’ve said that it was around ten. Cicadas chirped and clicked in the high grass around him, he could make out the sound of a few church bells from the villages below which let him know that it was half past ten and the susurration of the warm summer breeze moving through the trees.</p><p>Cristiano would’ve liked to sit there for a while longer just to be alone with his thoughts for a little while longer, but the rumbling of a nearby thunder and the dark clouds he saw coming together above the ocean made it very clear that it would be better for him to make his way back to their holiday house. He chose to walk at a leisurely pace instead of a jog, both because he would then have a bit more time to think and because it was getting difficult for him to see the path and he didn’t want to risk a fall that could have grave consequences. The rain set in before Cristiano was halfway there and even though he was soaked to the bone when he walked up the driveway, it didn’t even do so much as dent his relatively good mood.</p><p>He made sure that he would be as quiet as he possibly could’ve been while he unlocked the door, moved into the dark house and locked the door behind him, not wanting to wake up either his son or his boyfriend. Making a quick detour to the kitchen to fetch himself a bottle of water and a protein bar, Cristiano took his soaked clothes off and hung them up to dry in the smaller bathroom downstairs before he tiptoed up the stairs in just his underwear. The flash of lightning that seemed to illuminate the entire house made him flinch and at the deafening thunder which rolled over them a few mere seconds later, the Portuguese almost would’ve dropped his water bottle and choked on his protein bar. He stood frozen to the spot, waiting so that he would hear Junior if his son would cry out for him, and he continued to make his way upstairs when that cry didn’t come. Once he reached the bedroom, he took his sleeping clothes from where he had put them out onto a side table in advance and dragged himself to the bathroom, once again trying to make as few noises as possible. The last thing he wanted was to wake up Leo, who was sprawled out on his stomach and apparently fast asleep, and Mr. Floof, who was curled up by Leo’s feet and just as asleep.</p><p>During the minutes that Cristiano spend in the bathroom, the thunderstorm grew in intensity but didn’t get close to a point that would’ve been worrying. Given how high the temperatures had been the past week, a thunderstorm like that had been due to happen. He took a quick shower even though the warm summer rain had soaked him, went through his skincare routine and brushed his teeth before he tiptoed back into the bedroom and even though he didn’t cause any commotion, the German Shepherd was sitting rather than lying on the bed. The dog was whining a bit and fidgeted around as if it contemplated to jump off the bed and Cristiano rounded the bed after he had put his water bottle down onto the nightstand to tend to Mr. Foof.</p><p>“It’s just a little thunderstorm,” he whispered, stroking both of his hands through the young dog’s fur, “nothing that you need to worry about, yeah?” Mr. Floof whined again, more louder that time, and he continued to fidget, but before Cristiano could’ve spoken again, the Portuguese realised that it wasn’t their family dog that needed consolation. It was Leo. The younger man didn’t seem to be awake, a circumstance which made the fact that he was <em>whimpering</em> even more heart-rending. “You’re such a good boy Mr. Floof, making sure that Leo’s not in trouble,” Cristiano whispered, and the dog calmed down the very second that Cristiano climbed onto the king-sized bed and turned his entire attention to his boyfriend. <em>God</em>, he thought, <em>how could anyone be so cute</em>. “Bebê.” He still didn’t raise his voice above a whisper, and Leo let out the same whimpering sound when his hair was combed through, “Shhh bebê it’s okay I’m back, you don’t need to be scared. Eu estou aqui, não precisa ter medo, meu amor.”</p><p>“Cris?” Leo’s voice was almost impossibly small and Cristiano was sure that his heart skipped a beat when he caught it and his boyfriend slowly turned over onto his back to squint up at him; he wordlessly answered in the affirmative by placing a kiss on Leo’s forehead, then one on his clean-shaven cheek and finally on the corner of his mouth, moving his hand through Leo’s hair in a repetitive and calming motion. “Cris,” Leo merely slurred, apparently already sinking back into Morpheus’ arms and Cristiano quickly lay down onto the stack of pillow that was piled up against the headboard and pulled Leo to lie on top of him with ease, simply needing to hold his boyfriend as close as he could. The younger man immediately settled there with a sigh and a few slurred words that Cristiano didn’t understand and for an unknown reason, Cristiano suddenly felt like he was ready to burst into tears as he hid his face in Leo’s hair.</p><p>He stroked through the short hairs in the nape of Leo’s neck with one and traced the slight curve of his back with the other like he had used to do it when Junior had been a baby and it couldn’t have taken longer than a minute or two until Cristiano perceived a soft snore coming from his boyfriend, at which he pressed another kiss into Leo’s hair without stopping to caress him. Without wanting or allowing it to, his mind wandered off to what he had thought about during his run and while he had merely felt a hint of them a moment earlier, there were then tears building up in his eyes and blurrying his vision when he remembered the ring box he had hidden away in the bottom drawer of his nighstand many many years ago. It kept his father’s ring safe. It had been his father’s dying wish for him to inherit his wedding ring and give it to the love of his life.</p><p>Cristiano had heard those words almost fifteen years ago, but they still resounded through his mind as if he had heard them fifteen minutes ago.</p><p>“Don’t think about it,” his father had told him. His voice had been breaking due to the pain meds in his system and the way that his breathing had been laborious, and Cristiano had tried to be brave then. When he had been sitting at his father’s bedside, he hadn’t allowed himself to cry even though it had been everything he had wanted to do in that moment because he had known that his father wouldn’t get better, that he wouldn’t be discharged and that he won’t ever get a chance to see him play for a high-level club. Even though José’s strength had waned, he had smiled at his youngest child when he held up the ring he had pulled off his ring finger with great effort, “Don’t think about it, Cristiano.” Cristiano’s hand had been trembling when his father had pressed the ring into his palm, not giving him a chance to not accept it even if he would’ve wanted to do so, “If you need to think about if they’re the right person, they’re not the right one. The moment I first talked to your mother, I knew... and look what she gave me... four beautiful children and a good life.”</p><p>Cristiano pulled his hand away from Leo’s back rather abruptly to wipe at the tears that had escaped his eyes. He knew that he didn’t need to think about it, he had never once considered to retrieve the box from where he had hidden it away but as he was lying there with the comfortable weight of Leo on top of him, he wanted it to be the first thing he’d do once they would be back in Madrid. He knew. In hindsight, he’d realise that he had known for quite some time and Cristiano wiped at his face once more, huffing a laugh when Mr. Floof plodded across the bed and curled up next to him. He kept one hand in the nape of Leo’s neck and brought the other up to stroke down the German Shepherd’s neck, trying to not let his sniffling be audible.</p><p>“What do you say?” Cristiano whispered, somehow not feeling silly for talking to his dog as Mr. Floof lifted his head and his ears twitched, so as if he was really listening to what he had to say, “Should I ask him?”</p>
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<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Marriage proposal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here we are! More than six months and a lot of ups and downs later, we made it to the finale and the longest chapter <strike>(I hope no one will be mad because it's way too long to be considered a ficlet as I found out through an anonymous comment that was left under the last chapter xD)</strike>.</p><p>Writing this story was a real challenge occasionally but so much fun at the same time, and I hope that you enjoyed it as well. Also, I'd like to thank you for all the lovely comments and the kudos you left here, they really motivated me a lot during the not-so-good days which were quite frequent in this mess of a year that 2020 turned out to be :-)</p><p>Not betaed, all mistakes are mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cristiano let out a, for him, rather uncharacteristic whimper when Sergio caught him by the elbow and used real force to stop him from disappearing into his bedroom for the third time in a row like he had set out to do it, but Cristiano didn’t put up anything other than a verbal struggle when his best friend pulled him along, “Ser listen to me, I can’t go out with him looking like this.”</p><p>The Spaniard merely snorted and continued to drag him downstairs, “You’ve been switching back and forth between the same white shirts for the last two hours, Cristiano.”</p><p>“<em>Excuse me?</em> They’re definitely not the same,” Cristiano retorted with a gasp, “they’re from <em>three</em> different summer collections! I thought you knew your fashion and-”</p><p>“Yeah whatever,” the other cut him off and while it annoyed him more than just a bit in that moment, Cristiano would, at a later point, thank Sergio for helping him with keeping his head and not losing it that evening. “I do know my fashion but Leo is like Geri, it’s not as if he could tell the difference between them if they’d be pointed out to him.”</p><p>“What the fuck, don’t you dare call him stupid-” Given how overwhelmed he was, it wouldn’t have taken much and Cristiano would’ve stumbled over his own feet and ended up falling instead of walking down the last few steps of the staircase. That was how on edge he was and how jittery he had grown to become since he had woken up earlier that Friday.</p><p>Sergio sighed overly dramatically, “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Leo simply doesn’t care about fashion as much as you and I do, even if it’s oh so hard for you to understand.”</p><p>“It’s not hard for me to understand,” Cristiano muttered and the blush that rose into his face wasn’t a comfortable one. He was sure that he had never been so nervous before, not when he had decided that he would take it onto himself and dare a first step by kissing Leo and not even when he had waited for his boyfriend to come home after their first, and to that day, only real argument. His arm was only let go of once they had reached the living room and the smile that showed on the Spaniard’s face when he turned around to look at Cristiano was a reassuring and honest one. Gone were the teasing tone and equally teasing remarks.</p><p>“Hey,” he said, taking both of Cristiano’s wrists into his hand to squeeze them gently. “I know how you’re feeling, and you remember how insufferable I was during the couple of days before I actually proposed to Geri, yeah? How I almost would’ve blown of the entire thing if it wouldn’t have been for you and James?” The Portuguese nodded and he came to the conclusion that he should’ve skipped lunch because he was sure that he was ready to throw it up at any given moment. “How I actually ended up almost dropping the ring twice before I got to put it onto Geri’s finger?” <em>Oh God, if Leo will say no...</em> “Stop that, I can almost hear your brain working,” Sergio interrupted his endless circle of worried thoughts and Cristiano let out a sigh that could’ve come across as weary, pulling his hands out of Sergio’s hold to run them over his face with another, only somewhat suppressed sigh. “Don’t worry so much, he’ll definitely say yes. I know it.”</p><p>“Ser...”</p><p>“<em>Cristiano</em>.” His best friend said his name as if it was as a proper argument on its own, and his voice took on a softer note again when he went on, “Leo really loves you a lot so why on earth wouldn’t he agree to get married to you? And don’t you dare tell me that you’re doubting him or I’ll kick your ass for good this time.”</p><p>Cristiano’s face fell for a second, “<em>What?</em> Of course I’m not doubting him. I never doubted him, Ser!” It would’ve broken his own heart, not to mention that of his boyfriend, if he really would’ve tried to pick out any aspects of their relationships which he disliked or viewed as wrong when there had never been any to begin. No, he never could’ve doubted either Leo or their relationship, “I couldn’t ever doubt him, it’s just...” Given the fact that he had already styled his hair to perfection, he raised his hand only to drop it again before he had the chance to move it through his hair and ruin the coiffure. He wasn’t ashamed that he sounded so uncertain and abashed, he had never really hidden anything from Sergio, “What if he <em>does</em> say no, Ser? I can’t do it to Junior, it would break his heart...”</p><p>The Spaniard drew in a deep breath, but released it through his nose instead of with a sigh, “If he happens to say no, then the two of you will sit down and talk about why he said no, whether it’s just a bit too early for him because you’ve been together for what, fourteen months, or if he’s just not the marriage type, which I can’t imagine. Leo saying no doesn’t have to be the end for you two, Cris.” Even though he didn’t quite believe what his best friend had said in an attempt to calm him down, Cristiano nodded and picked his glass of water up from the coffee table to empty the rest of it with a single, restorative sip. “Do you know which jacket you want to wear?” Sergio asked him, making a vague hand gesture at the good dozen of suit jackets that Cristiano had laid out onto both of the couches with one and stroking Mr. Floof’s neck with his other hand; the German Shepherd had trotted into the living room without Cristiano having noticed it, apparently having sensed that there was something out of the usual going on in the house.</p><p>“I thought about the blue one, maybe?”</p><p>Sergio nodded and gave a lopsided smirk that made it impossible for Cristiano not to laugh despite the way that he rolled his eyes, already then so grateful for his best friend and his endeavour to help him. He didn’t have the courage to say it, though. “You look irresistable, Cris.”</p><p>“Don’t let Geri hear that,” the Portuguese laughed and while he put on the matching suit jacket on with ease, Sergio snorted.</p><p>“Sorry big guy, I wouldn’t jump into bed with you even if you’d pay me a considerable amount of your <em>I’m football’s first billionaire, baby</em> money.”</p><p>“You know what I think is interesting?” Cristiano winked at his friend, “That you apparently spend some time thinking about it before.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t do that with you, but with <em>Leo</em> on the other hand...” If looks could kill Cristiano would’ve been eligible to be charged as a murderer but Sergio giggled and raised his hands in front of him, knowing that he was pretty much safe. “Just kidding, just kidding. Geri is everything I ever wanted and I don’t ever want to lose him so your little boyfriend will be yours.” Both Sergio and Cristiano knew that they were merely messing around to ease the tension that would’ve hovered in the living room otherwise. “I mean... Geri would probably be okay with Leo joining us, given that they’ve been best friend since forever, really, but I also know that he’d rather be seen rocking a Real jersey in public than anything other than your hand.”</p><p>His trademark smirk formed on Cristiano’s face, “And that’s only because he wasn’t granted the chance to have his go at the Ronaldo experience yet, baby.”</p><p>“The Ronaldo experience? <em>Seriously?</em> Ugh, you’re so full of yourself it makes me sick sometimes.”</p><p>The two best friends glared at each other for the split of a second before they burst out into laughter and Cristiano tried to ignore the way that his heart somersaulted when he took the ring box out from the front pocket of his suit pants. Sergio had already heard all about how he had cried when he had retrieved it from the bottom drawer of his nightstand after he had woken up that morning. Cristiano had cried for a multitude of reasons; simply because he couldn’t quite believe that he was about to ask Leo to become his husband and because he had drowned in another wave of grief, as his father wouldn’t be there to attend the wedding just like he hadn’t been there when he had signed his contract with United or when Junior had been christened. In that moment, the fifteen years that had passed since his father’s death hadn’t mattered to him.</p><p>Sergio didn’t speak when he slowly opened the ring box to take one last look at the ring, at the simple gold band that was stuck in a black satin pillow. Cristiano had gotten it polished before he had firmly and securely hidden it away and out of sight after his father’s funeral. The prospect that he might get to see his father’s ring on Leo’s finger by the end of the evening caused his heart to beat up into his throat and he still didn’t try to say something when he looked over at his best friend, who had since plopped down onto the couch to give Mr. Floof a few good pats. Cristiano cleared his throat, “Ser?”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“I really want him to say yes.”</p><p>Sergio turned his gaze from Mr. Floof over to Cristiano, “I want that to happen too, and not only because you’re my best friend. Did I mention that I love the open bars they have for wedding guests? I’m know that Leo can easily talk you into getting one for your wedding too because you’ve never been able to tell him no.”</p><p>“You’re a dork.”</p><p>“Are you calling <em>me</em> a dork, Ronaldo?” The Spaniard managed to look somewhat serious for about three seconds until he was laughing again, “No but seriously, I’m really positive about this. You’ve known me for a while, Cris. I made so many more bad decisions in my life than I would’ve needed to and if I can stop you from being as stupid as I was, I won’t hesitate.”</p><p>Cristiano didn’t need to ask about what Sergio had meant, he knew well enough what he had been talking about. It had taken Sergio and Gerard a couple of attempts to get from being enemies who would fly across the country to fuck on the weekends to lovers who wouldn’t break off contact every other week, but they had made it. They had stuck with each other despite everything that the press had written about them and the challenges they had to go through, and then were a married couple of over a year. Cristiano was glad that Leo’s and his relationship was of an easier nature, he knew that even the argument they had after the Clásico hadn’t even come close to the way that Gerard and Sergio used to fight for years on end.</p><p>“When do you need to pick Leo up?”</p><p>He threw a look at the Rolex on his wrist, “He’s supposed to land in an hour, I told him that we’re going out for dinner,” and huffed a laugh. “Do you know what his first question was? Who it is that’ll be watching Junior as long as we’re not home.”</p><p>“That’s what you always wanted, isn’t it?” Sergio smiled, his hands still stroken down Mr. Floof’s neck, “To find someone who’ll accept Junior as their own and not be a heartless bitch like Irina turned out to be?”</p><p>Cristiano nodded, gently closed the lid of the ring box again and slipped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, “Yeah, but he’s so much more than I ever could’ve asked for.”</p><p>“And all of this happened because my <em>incredible</em> husband begged Leo to come to Junior’s birthday party even though you two still hated each other at that point.”</p><p>“I never hated him,” the Portuguese muttered, sounding more ashamed than he wanted to, “I was just... stupid enough to believe that the whole pecho frío act was real and not just a façade whenever he would leave his house. You don’t even know how bad I feel for really having believed it. Leo, he’s the sweetest, most gentle soul that I know and,” he drew in a deep breath, “I need him to be mine, Ser. Forever.”</p><p>“He will be yours,” Ser gave back, having slipped into his captain tone. “Fuck, he already <em>is</em> yours, Cristiano. There’s literally no use in denying that. He did so much for Junior...”</p><p>Cristiano had just put the ring away a moment ago, and yet he already put a hand to his chest to make sure that it was still there as much as he felt for it with the hope that it might give him the strength he would need to make it through the evening, to risk it all for the chance to gain everything he dreamed about about or lose what he already has. “I think I should drive to the airport now,” he stated after a few moments of silence, which had only been disturbed by Mr. Floof’s contented growl when Ser had scratched him behind the ears. “There can always be traffic and-”</p><p>“No, I think that you should wait,” Sergio interjected. “Knowing you, you’ll freak out if you have to wait in the arrival hall for like forty minutes.”</p><p>The Portuguese opened his mouth to retort that he would most certainly not freak out, that he was sophisticated, had enough self-control and that interviews were the only occasions during which he had ever lost it so far, but he hadn’t brought a single word out when he snapped his mouth shut again. Sergio had, once more, been right with what he had said. “Junior can stay up a bit longer if he wants to,” he muttered in a weak attempt to change the topic. “It’s Friday, and we already did his homework for the weekend.” The other man answered with an approving sound.</p><p>“Oh he probably will stay up, Geri was so excited to hear that Junior’s going to stay over tonight. I think he wants to watch the first Harry Potter movie with him.”</p><p>“Geri really needs his own kid already.”</p><p>Cristiano had said it without having thought about it beforehand but before he could’ve rowed back and apologised, he was stunned by how wide his best friend’s smile became instead. “We have an appointment at the surrogacy office next week. You know that we wanted to wait until our relationship is stable enough to have kids and... we’re ready.”</p><p>“Congratulations,” he replied, honestly excited for the step that Sergio and Gerard would take to become a family.</p><p>“No no this is completely wrong.” Sergio made a quick gesture with his hand, “I mean thank you, but the reason as for why I didn’t want to tell you today is because I’m supposed to congratulate Leo and you on your engagement tonight.”</p><p>“I hope so...”</p><p>“Jesus Christ Cris, I’ve never seen you like this before! Where are your spirits, hm? Your positive outlook?”</p><p>Mustering a somewhat sincere smile, Cristiano moved around the coffee table to sit down beside Sergio. The German Shepherd almost immediately pulled away from Ser to sit between Cristiano’s legs and demand pats from one of his owners instead, which Cristiano gave to him without any protest, and the way Mr. Floof’s fluffy tail was was slapping against the floor told anyone how he was excited as well. “Today’s the day,” Cristiano muttered, taking the dog’s head into his hands to give him some good ear scratches. “Do you think that he’ll say yes, big guy?” The small barking sound Mr. Floof could’ve easily been interpreted as a yes, even if the Portuguese didn’t allow himself to think about it.</p><p>~~~</p><p>In the end, Cristiano got kicked out of his own house. Quite literally. The kick Ser gave to his backside when he forced him to go wasn’t a hard one, but it brought the message across well enough. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to go and pick Leo up, of course, but it had been the minute he had put on his shoes that he had realised that there were just so many more things to worry about that he ever would’ve thought there could be and all of them came crashing down on him while he was on the twenty-minute drive to the airport.</p><p><em>What if Leo’s flight would be delayed and they would be forced to cancel their booked table? What if something had gone wrong while Cristiano had made the reservation and they would end up not having a table at all? Or what if Leo had such a bad day today that he would be in a rather bad mood and ask him to take him home instead of out for dinner?</em> Ser hadn’t lied, Cristiano hadn’t even been able to say no to him when they had still been just friends so he really wouldn’t have the heart to insist on their reservation then and by the time that he swerved his Maserati into a free spot in the parking lot near the arrival hall of Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, he was clinging rather than holding onto the steering wheel.</p><p>“You’re so fucking ridiculous,” he muttered under his breath after he had parked the car and he leaned his head back against the headrest, trying to breathe slowly in order to regulate his palpitating heart. Cristiano didn’t listen to his own words. To him, he and the situation Leo and him were in was anything but ridiculous. It was an all or nothing situation, one of a kind which he had never been in before.</p><p>For every game that he and his team had lost, there had always been a next one to come where they had the chance to do better. For every major award that he ended up losing to someone else - ironically he had lost the most of those to Leo out of all the other footballers, there had always been a new season during which he could’ve pushed himself to new limits and show the world how good he was. But if Leo would say no, if it would turn out that Leo doesn’t want to marry and spend the rest of his life with him, it would be over. Once and for all.</p><p>The notification sound of his phone coming three times in quick succession was it that pulled him back into the there and then after he had stared at the steering wheel for God knew how long and he almost hurt his elbow on the car door when he hurried to see who the texts had come from.</p><p><em>Sergio:</em> [You can do it Cris! Geri &amp; I believe in you ☝🏻]</p><p><em>Sergio:</em> [Photo]</p><p><em>Sergio:</em> [Don’t worry about us and concentrate on Leo, we’re having a good time 😎✌🏻]</p><p>Cristiano chuckled to himself when he opened the photo, Ser was holding up his trademark selfie peace sign while Gerard and Junior were sitting on the couch behind them, a blanket with the Hogwarts crest draped over the both of them and holding up a plate of chocolate-chip waffles each. He didn’t even think about commenting on how he wanted his son to have a bit more healthy dinner. [Thank you so much Ser], he typed instead, swallowing hard as he did. [I’ll let you know how it went.]</p><p><em>Sergio:</em> [That’s what I hope!!! 🤞🏻]</p><p>A quick look at the clock on the dashboard told him that he’d have a good few more minutes until Leo’s flight would land and he contemplated whether he should get out of the car and wait for his boyfriend in the arrival hall instead, like he would’ve done it on any other, <em>regular</em> Friday, but decided against it. He simply didn’t trust himself enough to be sure that he wouldn’t just drop straight to one knee the moment that he’d see Leo coming through the gate and making his way towards him, so he texted Leo to let him know that he would be waiting in the car instead. Unable to sit still in the silence that reigned the car, he turned on the first random radio station he landed on and resumed to stare at the exit not all that inconspicuously for minutes on end.</p><p><em>There he was.</em> Cristiano’s heart soared when he caught a sight the younger man and he immediately turned down the volume of the radio with a slightly trembling hand, but it didn’t take him much to force himself to smile when Leo, after having looked around for a few moments, spotted him sitting in the Maserati and waved at him. As Cristiano waved back, he could’ve sworn that he felt the ring box in the inside pocket of his jacket nudge him and he made sure that his voice didn’t quiver when he got to greet his boyfriend verbally. “Hey bebê, I missed you.” Leo had apparently remembered that Cristiano had told him about the reservation they would have, as he was wearing clothes that happened to be a lot fancier than those he usually travel in, and he felt the younger man smile against his lips when he cupped his face and leaned over to kiss him. <em>He loved him so much.</em> Pulling back to get a look at Leo’s face, he used his thumbs to stroke his clean-shaven cheeks, “How was your flight?”</p><p>“Oh it was okay,” Leo said with a smile, leaning his head into the touch. “Could’ve been a lot worse.”</p><p>Cristiano simply had to kiss him again, “That’s good, bebê.”</p><p>“Do you really think that it’s a good idea to let Sergio watch Junior and Mr. Floof?”</p><p>The laugh that his boyfriend added to the end of his sentence was like music to his ears and he leaned back into his seat to put his right hand into it’s claimed place on Leo’s thigh, where Leo’s hand immediately covered his own, “He’s not watching them alone, Gerard is there with them. Did you know that they’ll have a child soon?”</p><p>The Argentine nodded, still smiling, “It’s all Geri’s talking about at the moment, he’s already a bit worried that he might have to deal with two Sergios in a few years.”</p><p>“God beware.”</p><p>“That’s what I said,” Leo laughed and gave Cristiano’s hand a squeeze as the older man started the engine and swiftly reversed the car out of the parking slot without letting go of Leo’s thigh. “You never told me what restaurant we’re going to, Cristiano.”</p><p>The Portuguese huffed a laugh and squeezed his boyfriend’s leg in return, “Because it’s supposed to be a <em>surprise</em>, bebê. When did you become so impatient?”</p><p>“Of course, because you’re the right one to say that.”</p><p><em>You have no idea</em>, Cristiano thought while Leo had a laugh about what he had said. He hoped that he had managed to mask his nervousness well enough, as the last thing he had wanted was to worry Leo - he needed this evening to be perfect for his boyfriend.</p><p>By the time that they reached the restaurant at the other end of Madrid, the sun had since begun to set and colour the sky an utmost beautiful mix or orange, purple and pink. It was a perfect match for Cristiano’s mood and for his hopes for the evening that was to come for the two of them, as he already felt like his chest was ready to burst open from the sheer amount of love and adoration he was harbouring for Leo, who was still taking photos of the sunset to post them in his Instagram story when Cristiano parked the Maserati in one of the free spots on the parking lot that belonged to the restaurant.</p><p>He had chosen this place for a variety of reasons. It was somewhat of a secret place for Real, as well as Atlético players to take their partners to if they wanted to have a quiet and stress-free evening; they were all on a first name basis with the owner, Matías, and no paparazzi had ever managed to get inside the restaurant to snap a photo of whoever it had been that they had been set on to harass that time, as Matías happened to be very strict and unyielding when it came to protect the privacy of his guests and friends. What really topped it off and practically made it impossible for Cristiano to take Leo somewhere else was also the fact that they offered quite a few Argentinian dishes and he hadn’t ever got around to take his boyfriend to an Argentinian restaurant before. He had thought that it could be a nice little touch and, maybe, it would make Leo smile whenever he would think back to this day.</p><p>“I’ve never been here before,” Leo said, rather absentmindedly and maybe just to himself, and the younger man blushed to a shade that was so much more beautiful than the colour of the evening sky when Cristiano laughed.</p><p>“I’d be surprised if you were here before, bebê. Come on, let’s get inside, yeah?” His boyfriend made a small, agreeing sound under his breath while they got out of the car and Cristiano held his hand out for Leo to take it. It could’ve come across as dominant, but he know that Leo hadn’t yet stopped to feel nervous whenever the would be taken somewhere he’d never been before and his boyfriend took his hand as soon as he was withing reach. Cristiano didn’t even try to resist the urge of hugging him since he hadn’t gotten around to do it at the airport, he missed the feeling of the smaller man melting in his arms and it hadn’t even been an entire week yet since he had last hugged him. <em>He needed him</em>.</p><p>“I missed you so much,” Leo whispered where his face was hidden against Cristiano’s chest. He brought his free arm up to hug the Portuguese around the waist and he couldn’t have know that his whispered confession made Cristiano want to ask him to be his husband right there on the parking lot.</p><p>The older man closed his eyes and pressed a lingering kiss into the crown of Leo’s hair before he put distance between them and smiled down at his boyfriend, “You know that I’m always missing you whenever I have to let go of you, bebê. It’s the same for Junior, but you know that too.” Leo nodded, smiled and Cristiano struggled to wrap his mind around the fact that someone came up with the pecho frío lie.</p><p>Matías seemed to have awaited them arrival. Cristiano wouldn’t have been surprised if he would’ve waited for them to pass through the entrance door, where he greeted his guests the very second the door behind them fell close. “Cristiano,” the man in his mid-fifties said, shaking the Portuguese’s hand before he moved on to Leo to shake his head as well. Cristiano knew that he didn’t just imagine the twinkle in Matías’ eyes when they were asked to follow him to their table, when he had called and Matías had asked him about the occasion for his visit, he had told him about his plan without any hesitation. Leo exclaimed his surprise about the way that the bulding had been constructed following the style that was usually found in the Andalusian region on the inside, all warm woods and stone, and Cristiano squeezed his hand to show that he was okay with him going on.</p><p>Leo’s amazement continued to stand upright after they had sat down at their table in the far back of the spacious restaurant, something that made Cristiano’s heart somersault all over again, “What do you say, bebê?”</p><p>“I think it’s beautiful,” Leo said with a small laugh, soft spoken as he happened to be most of the time. “Thank you for taking me here, Cristiano.”</p><p>“Don’t mention it, bebê. You’re more than welcome.” <em>Just say yes, please.</em></p><p>“The menus, Señores,” Matías interrupted the comfortable silence which had followed Cristiano’s and Leo’s short conversation, and he handed each of them a rather thick menu before he lit the candle and adjusted the bouquet which was solely to be found on their table. “Do you already know what you’d like to drink?”</p><p>Cristiano was able to see the faintest of blush spread out over Leo’s cheekbones when Matías looked at him and tapped his pen against his notepad without any bad intentions and the younger man hurried to open the menu at a random page, flipping through it until he found the list of drinks the restaurant. “I’ll take a lime water,” he said when the blush on his boyfriend’s face darkened a bit more, hoping that he could thus make the, for Leo, awkward situation a bit easier.</p><p>“One lime water...”</p><p>“You really have Malbec Argentino?”</p><p>“Yes Señor, it’s imported.”</p><p>“Oh.” Leo smiled, “I’d like a glass of that then.” Matías nodded, scribbled it down on the notepad and let them know that he’d be right back with their drinks before he walked off. Leo whispered something, but it was too quiet for Cristiano to understand it at the other end of the table and the younger man giggled when he came after Cristiano’s request to repeat what he had said, “They have dulce de leche pancakes!”</p><p>Cristiano didn’t know what it was that made him laugh, whether it happened to be the stage whisper Leo had said it with or the way that he was giggling because he spotted his second favourite dessert on the menu, but he shook his head as his smile grew wide enough to make his cheeks hurt. What he did know, however, was that he knew just why he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. “Remember bebê, no dessert before you had your dinner,” he said in his best admonishing tone that he rarely ever had to use on Junior and he cocked a playful eyebrow, forcing a smirk down when Leo rolled his eyes in the same light-hearted manner.</p><p>“Okay Papi I understand, but that’s not very nice.” Like Matías had told them, they had their drinks a few moments later and while Cristiano had already known what he’d order before they had even arrived at the restaurant, it took Leo quite some time to decide but Matías kept his sincere mood up even after Leo had changed his mind for the second time. “There’s so much to choose from, how was I even supposed to make a choice?” Leo sipped at his wine, “If it turns out to be as good as it sounds like we need to come here again.”</p><p><em> We can come here for our anniversary if you want</em>, Cristiano thought, but his answer was a different one, “Of course bebê, that won’t be a problem.”</p><p>They didn’t talk all that much after they were served their appetisers - gambas al ajillo and gazpacho, simply because they could easily enjoy their time together without any chattering and on that evening, it came to Cristiano’s advantage more than ever before as he suddenly not been so sure about when it would be adequate for him to show Leo why he had decided to take him to the restaurant in the first place. Was he supposed to do it during dinner or afterwards? He didn’t know, and the longer Leo and him sat together the more Cristiano broke his mind. It didn’t get better when they were served the main course; he feared that the lump that had formed in his throat wouldn’t allow him to get any of the pasta down and he needed to take a restorative sip from his water once he spotted the crease that had formed between Leo’s eyebrows.</p><p>Cristiano felt so bad when Leo sounded worried, “Are you okay?”</p><p>“I’m fine,” he after a short pause so that his answer wouldn’t come across as hurried, reaching out to put his hand on top of Leo’s for a moment. “I promise bebê, I’ve just been thinking.” His boyfriend didn’t seem all that convinced, but Leo let it go and didn’t ask any further questions, making it easy for Cristiano to start a conversation about Junior’s week at school just so that they’d have something else to talk about.</p><p>~~~</p><p>He felt a shiver moving up his spine when Leo excused himself to the bathroom after they had ordered their dessert - the dulce de leche pancakes his boyfriend had pointed out, and Cristiano watched the younger man until he disappeared behind a corner, only then reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket that he had hung over the back of his chair instead of up at the coat check. <em>All or nothing, now or never.</em> His heart skipped a beat when his fingers came in touch with the velvet box and if he would’ve needed to think about closing his fingers around it in order to pull it out, it would’ve taken him an hour. His hand moved on its own accord and he securely held the small box between his hands as he drew in a deep breath to steady himself. <em>Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.</em></p><p>To Cristiano, it was as if Leo had only walked around the corner to turn back a few seconds later when he, in reality, only sat back down a couple of minutes. His boyfriend was still smiling and with his cheeks having gained a pink hue due to both the food and the wine Leo had, he looked incredibly kissable and as if Cristiano was living through a movie scene, he was actually able to hear the younger man hum as he picked up his wine glass to take a sip. <em>Please</em>. Like it had happened earlier, his body acted somewhat on its own accord when his brain failed to process what he would be about to do.</p><p>He stood up, holding the hand that kept the ring box safe out of sight behind his back, and took the few steps that he needed to stand beside Leo’s chair without taking his eyes off his boyfriend. Leo let out a small confused sound when he didn’t move away and wide, impossibly gentle brown eyes looked up at him over the rim of the wine glass. <em>Please</em>. Cristiano’s heart was racing more than it did after ninety minutes on the pitch when he slowly lowered himself onto his right knee, not caring that he could easily ruin the Gucci trousers he was wearing. How could he have cared about his trousers. He didn’t perceive the gasps and whispers which the other guests and waiters made audible over the sound of blood rushing in his ears; his attention was fixed on Leo and Leo only, on the way that his boyfriend’s eyes grew wider when he must’ve realised what was happening and on how his face turned a deeper shade of pink. “Leo,” he eventually said and even though he felt anything but, his voice was steady, “bebê, do you want to marry me?”</p><p>Cristiano was able to see how there were tears building up in Leo’s eyes from one split of a second to another, and he watched how Leo almost ended up spilling his wine when he blindly set the glass down onto the table because his hand was shaking so badly. “Cris...” At Leo’s breathed response, Cristiano only barely managed to keep himself in the position that he was in. It wasn’t what he had hoped to hear and he didn’t know whether he should interpret it as a yes or a no, though before he could’ve asked him about it, Leo let out a trembling sob and threw himself around his neck that almost would’ve resulted in the both of them toppling over and falling onto the ground. “Yes,” Leo sobbed, holding onto Cristiano as if his life depended on it, “<em>y</em><em>es yes yes</em>, yes of course I-” Strengthened by the answer he got, Cristiano pushed himself onto his feet and pulled the smaller man along with him, not caring about the commotion when he caused Leo’s chair to fall over. “Yes,” Leo repeated all over again, fully dissolved into tears as he held onto Cristiano, who never could’ve kept his own tears at bay either.</p><p><em>He said yes</em>, it resounded in his mind and for how long the two of them simply held onto each other as they cried, Cristiano didn’t know, but it was him who pulled back first because he yet had to see the ring where it belonged on Leo’s finger.<em> He said yes</em>. Both of their hands were trembling, over which they shared a teary laugh, but it didn’t take Cristiano more than one attempt before he slid his father’s ring onto Leo’s finger without any resistance. It was a perfect fit and once it was stuck on Leo’s left ring finger, Cristiano cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss that blended borders with a bruising one. <em>He said yes</em>.</p><p>“Take me ho-ome,” Leo whispered, his breath hitching from the remnant of a sob and Cristiano nodded but set on to kiss him once more, having all forgotten about the dessert they had ordered. What did a dessert matter to him. <em>Leo said yes. They were engaged.</em></p><p>Never letting go of his fiancé’s hand, he quickly fumbled a few 50€ bills, more than enough to cover their bill and a hefty tip, out of his wallet and placed them on the table. He knew that Matías understood, it wasn’t the first engagement he had seen happening in his restaurant. Somehow, it was the warm summer evening’s air they were met with that really caused reality to sink in and Cristiano didn’t hesitate to crowd Leo against the hood of his Maserati to capture his lips in another kiss, keeping one arm securely wrapped around the younger man’s waist while he brushed the thumb of his free hand over the ring on Leo’s finger. “Eu te amo bebê, mal posso esperar para viver o resto da minha vida com você,” he whispered, placking kisses all over Leo’s face and catching his lips every then and there. “Only you, Leo.”</p><p>“Only you,” Leo whispered back. He brought a hand up to wipe at the tears that were claiming their way down Cristiano’s face all over again, “It’ll always be you, Cristiano...”</p><p>~~~</p><p>When Leo ended up falling asleep on top of him later that night, Cristiano still hadn’t quite believed that the younger man had really gone from being his boyfriend to being his fiancé. Since Leo had fallen asleep after their fourth or fifth round of love making, he must’ve taken about a dozen photos of them holding their fingers intertwined even when one of them was asleep and of his father’s ring still being there on Leo’s ring finger, where he hoped he’d get to see it every single day for the rest of his life. Cristiano was exhausted, physically as well as emotionally, but he had been wide awake the very second that his head had made contact with his pillow. <em>Leo said yes. They would get married. Leo wanted to be his forever. Leo said yes.</em> He didn’t try to blink away the tears that came up as he laid there with a softly snoring and fast asleep Leo sprawled out on top of him just like he didn’t stop to comb through Leo’s hair. <em>He said yes.</em></p><p>During the drive home from the restaurant, which had been filled with many tears and countless of love confessions, they had decided that they would let the world know through an Instagram post tomorrow, but Leo, of course, hadn’t been against it when Cristiano had texted Sergio before he had set his phone aside for the night. He knew that it was late, too late, but he didn’t know where to put the urge to call his mother. Staring at the ceiling, he told himself that it would be wise to tell her tomorrow morning and not past midnight, but after what could’ve been twenty minutes of contemplating, he angled his phone from the nightstand and dialled his mother, hoping that Leo wouldn’t wake up.</p><p>“Cristiano?” He swallowed down a whimper when he realised that he had woken up his mother instead and since he hadn’t ever called her in the middle of the night before, it must’ve worried her to no end, “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Yeah I’m okay,” he whispered with a trembling voice, “Junior’s okay too, there’s nothing wrong.”</p><p>Dolores let out a sigh of relief at the other end of the line, “What is it then, meu amor?”</p><p>Cristiano closed his eyes. His voice hitched with a sob, “Mãe, he said yes.”</p><p>
  <em>Fin.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm thinking about writing a sequel because I'm just not ready to let go of this AU - I don't know when I'll get around to do it, as I want to shift my focus onto Perfect Paradise again, but it'll probably come at one point! :-)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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